ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell rallied from a 22-point second half deficit to take a late lead in regulation, used a missed Princeton free throw with 0.4 seconds to play to send it to overtime, survived two extra sessions and exploded for 19 points in the third overtime to claim a wild 107-101 victory over the Tigers on Friday evening at Newman Arena. The Big Red improved to 10-12 (4-5 Ivy), while the defending Ivy champion Tigers fell to 11-13 (3-6 Ivy).

Junior Matt Morgan scored 31 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished seven assists and classmate Stone Gettings registered 26 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals, but it was the other contributions that lifted the home team to its first win over head coach Brian Earl's alma mater in three years. Steven Julian had 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots and Jack Gordon notched 12 points in 16 minutes before fouling out. Freshman Terrance McBride (nine points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals) had a breakout game, as did classmate Jimmy Boeheim (eight points, four rebounds in 31 minutes). 

The Big Red overcame a slow start, scoring just 10 points in the game's first 14 minutes before piling up 97 in the final 41.

Princeton's Devin Cannady had a game-high 32 points to go with eight boards, four assists and three steals to lead four double figure scorers. Myles Stephens had 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Aaron Young scored 16 and Will Gladson scored 10 to go along with seven boards. The Tigers hit 16 3-pointers, but connected on just one of its final 13 to close the game.

The 22-point deficit with 11:44 remaining was the largest Cornell has overcome this century - besting an early 19-point hole (24-5) against Yale at home during the 1999-2000 season in a 65-57 win.

There was no indication of the coming drama over the game's first 30 minutes, as the Tigers looked well on its way to repeating some version of its dominant 91-54 triumph from mid-January. 

Trailing 65-43 with 11:44 remaining after an Aaron Young 3-pointer, the Tigers' lead had been hovering near 20 points for nearly four minutes with no let-up in sight. The comeback started innocently enough, with a Josh Warren layup. Four quick points by Julian and a backcourt steal and finish by McBride started to energize the crowd. The run would extend to 17-0 on a Morgan 3-pointer with 6:23 remaining that cut the lead all the way to five (65-60). 

Cornell finally broke through, taking its first lead of the night on a Morgan isolation at the top of the key that led to a rare four-point play, turning a one-point deficit into a three-point lead with 2:12 remaining. Morgan would later connect on a tough jumper with a foul with 10 ticks left to give the home team the lead back, but missed the ensuing free throw. The Big Red defense got a stop, but Princeton's Amir Bell was able to sneak in for the offensive rebound and was fouled with 0.4 seconds to play. The senior made the first to tie, but missed the second to send the game into overtime.

The first two overtimes saw neither team lead by more than three points, and the visitors lead for a total of a minute, but no winner was decided.Stephens scored a bucket with seven seconds left in the first to send it into a second, and both teams had a chance to win in the final minute of overtime two. After Princeton took a 91-90 lead 78 seconds into the third overtime, McBride found a cutting Julian for a rim-rattling dunk that gave Cornell the lead for good and plenty of momentum. Morgan converted a tough three-point play with 90 seconds remaining, then found a cutting Warren for a basket to give the Big Red its largest lead of the night at six, a fitting end to a circle that began with a Warren basket down more than 20 points.

Notes to Know
• Matt Morgan reached double figures in scoring for the 45th straight game and posted his third 30-point game of the season.
• He became the third Cornell player to surpass 1,500 career points (1,525) and did so in 77 games, 15 fewer than Ryan Wittman '10, the school's all-time leading scorer.
• Morgan recorded his third 500-point season of his career and his 509 ranks seventh in a single season at Cornell.
• The junior moved into fourth place on the school's career free throws list with his 11-of-13 night, surpassing John Bajusz '87 with his 330.
• Stone Gettings surpassed the 20-point plateau for the sixth consecutive game, a mark that would have tied the school record entering the season before Morgan had a run of 12 straight games hitting that mark.
• The team's 107 points were is tied for the seventh-most in a single game in school history and is the most by the Big Red against a Division I team since scoring 108 against Harvard during the 1992-93 campaign.
• The game was the first triple overtime contest for Cornell since it went five extra sessions at home against Princeton during the 1978-79 season (Tigers won 66-61).
• Cornell matched its Ivy League win total from a season ago (4-10) and improved to 4-2 in its last six league games.
• The win was the 199th all-time at Newman Arena (199-151), including its 7-2 home record this season.
• The Big Red is now 41-50 all-time in overtime games, 7-9 in multiple overtime games and 30-19 in extra sessions at home.

Next Up
• The Big Red will welcome first-place Penn to Newman Arena on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 6:30 p.m.
• Cornell will look for a season split against the Quakers and head coach Steve Donahue, who led the Big Red program for 10 seasons (2000-10), winning three Ivy titles and making a Sweet 16 appearance with the Big Red.