VESTAL, N.Y. -- Binghamton scored the first six points of the second half to erase a deficit and held off Cornell for a 68-62 victory on Friday evening at the Events Center to spoil the head coaching debut of
Brian Earl. The game served as the opener for both teams.
Sophomore
Matt Morgan had 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists and classmate
Stone Gettings matched a career high with 14 points and added a best of nine boards with three assists for the Big Red. Senior
Robert Hatter was the third double figure scorer for Cornell, who shot just 35 percent from the field and made 4-of-29 from beyond the arc. Junior
Wil Bathurst had six points, three rebounds and a pair of blocked shots and freshman
Josh Warren netted six points and four rebounds in his collegiate debut.
Binghamton earned the victory behind 23 points from J.C. Show and 14 from Dusan Perovic. The home team shot 56 percent after halftime after making just 8-of-31 shots from the field in the first half (26 percent).Â
The first half looked like - the first half of most season openers. Both teams were sloppy with the ball (14 combined turnovers) and shot a combined 19-of-63 (30 percent) from the floor offensively. Despite that, flashes from the Big Red pushed them out to a 27-24 lead at the break.
Gettings had seven points and five boards to lead a Big Red team that used an 8-4 run in the final three minutes to enter halftime with a 27-24 advantage. It was a locked-in defense that was the difference for Cornell, holding Binghamton to just 8-of-31 shooting in the first 20 minutes.
After opening the game on a 5-0 run, the Bearcats scored the first six of the second half and never again trailed. The Big Red did tie it momentarily on a Hatter driving layup with 10:26 left in regulation, but Justin McFadden answered eight seconds later with an open 3-pointer to give the home team the lead for good.
Binghamton opened up its lead to as many as nine points in the closing minutes before the visitors clawed back within four in the final minute. The Bearcats forced the Big Red into three straight misses to close the contest, including two 3-pointers that would have cut the lead to a single possession.
Notes
• Sophomores
Stone Gettings and
Donovan Wright both earned their first collegiate starts.
• Gettings tied a career high with five rebounds by halftime and had nine in the contest.
• He also matched a career-best with 14 points.
• Freshman
Josh Warren made his collegiat debut and had four points and three rebounds in five first half minutes and had six points and four boards in just eight minutes total.
• Wright scored his first collegiate basket on a dunk and had three points and five rebounds.
• Binghamton cut into Cornell's series lead, now standing at 8-4.
Next Up
• Cornell returns to action at Siena on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. at the Times Union Center.
• The all-time series is tied 3-3, though Cornell has now won consecutive games, including last season's 81-80 comeback victory in Ithaca.
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