NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Playing without the Ivy League's leading scorer on the road against a senior-laden team, the Cornell men's basketball team looked anything like the underdog, but Columbia was able to hold on for a 74-70 win on Saturday evening at Levien Gymnasium. The Lions improved to 12-6 and the Big Red fell to 7-8 in the conference opener for both teams.

Freshman Matt Morgan scored a career-high 29 points to lead three double figure scorers, but it was a big shot by Maodo Lo, a few unlucky bounces late and its own turnovers that helped the Lions to the win. Lo hit a 3-pointer late in the shot clock to steady the home team before a furious late Cornell comeback fell short - but not without plenty of drama.

Trailing by two after a long Morgan 3-pointer with 16 seconds left, sophomore Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof slapped the ball away from Lo just over halfcourt and dived on the loose ball. Trying to get it back into the backcourt, his pass from his back was blocked and intercepted by the Lions. Cornell fouled twice,with Jeff Coby making the first of two free throws to make it 72-69. His second missed, but Morgan was fouled at midcourt. Cornell argued there was no play on the ball and it should have gone down as a intentional foul, but Morgan was only gifted two free throws. He made the first and missed the second on purpose. Columbia rebounded, was fouled and hit a pair of charity shots to wrap the game up.

Morgan hit 10-of-23 shots, including 5-of-13 from beyond the arc, and his energy and swagger kept Cornell within striking distance throughout. For the second straight game, junior Darryl Smith made all five of his field goal attempts as part of a 12-point day, while freshman Troy Whiteside scored a career-best 11 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists while capturing his first collegiate start. Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof notched seven points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals, the latter three numbers all career highs. Junior JoJo Fallas had seven big points off the bench.

Lo, who was limited to 3-of-13 shooting, ended the night with 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Alex Rosenberg scored a team-high 14 points off the bench, Jeff Coby had a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards and Kyle Castlin and Grant Mullins each scored 12 points. The Lions were limited to 37 percent shooting, but turned Cornell over 18 times and held a 41-33 rebounding edge.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Freshman Matt Morgan's 29 points were a career high and were just three shy of the school's single-game freshman record of 32, set by Robert Hatter against Loyola (Md.) during the 2013-14 campaign.
• Morgan's 13 3-point attempts is tied for the 14th-most in a game in school history.
• Morgan now has four 20-point games on the year.
• Junior Darryl Smith, a 6-2 guard, has gone 5-for-5 from the floor in each of the last two games and has hit 11 straight field goals over his last three contests..He is now shooting 64 percent from the floor for the season
• Junior Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof posted career highs of seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in the contest.
• Freshman Troy Whiteside scored a career-best 11 points for his second career double figure effort.
• The Big Red held Columbia to .373 shooting, the third time in the last four games an opponent has shot under 40 percent against Cornell.
• Senior Robert Mischler had a career-best three rebounds and added an assist in just seven minutes of action.
• Entering the game, junior guard Robert Hatter had been averaging 23.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals over his last seven contests.

NEXT UP
• Cornell will return the trip to complete the home-and-home series with Columbia when the Big Red and the Lions match up at Newman Arena on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 4 p.m.
• The game will be the second of a doubleheader with the Big Red women meeting Columbia at 1 p.m.