ITHACA, N.Y. - Shyquan Gibbs' basket with 0.5 seconds left helped NJIT overcome an 18-point halftime lead and handed Cornell a 59-58 loss on Wednesday evening at Newman Arena. The Big Red dropped its second-straight one-point game in falling to 1-2 while the Highlanders improved to 1-2.

Terrance McBride scored a career-high 17 points and added four assists, two rebounds and three steals and Josh Warren added 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, with both players hitting go-ahead shots in the final 40 seconds. The Highlanders answered each time, and Gibbs' tough driving basket in the final seconds put the visitors ahead for the fifth lead change in a thrilling final minute. Dean Noll added nine points and two rebounds and Bryan Knapp had six points and three boards. Cornell held NJIT to 37 percent shooting overall, including 19 percent in a first half that saw the Big Red lead 34-16 at the break.

Zach Cooks had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the Highlanders, while Gibbs had nine points and four assists in addition to the game winner. Souleymane Diakite notched 10 points and 13 rebounds for the double-double. 



Cornell was dominant defensively over the first 20 minutes, holding the Highlanders to 6-of-31 shooting and 0-for-5 from 3-point range in building its halftime edge, but the Highlanders, who won 22 games a season ago and like Cornell, earned a postseason invite to the CIT, put it together after the break. Cooks, who entered the game scoring 22 points per night, had 16 in the second 20 minutes. His fall-away 3-pointer from the left corner with a minute to play gave NJIT its first lead of the game, and two free throws with 27 ticks left put the highlanders back in the lead after a strong offensive board and putback by McBride. Warren hit a hook in the lane with just under six seconds left, but Gibbs drove into the lane, absorbed contact and had his shot bounce up off the rim and in for the game-winner. Cornell needed to go the length of the court with 0.5 seconds left and couldn't get off a shot in time to beat the clock.
 

FIRST HALF

• Cornell came out with great energy defensively, jumping out to a 12-2 lead seven minutes into the game and holding the Highlanders to one field goal over the first eight (1-for-11).
• Warren hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first 4:30 of the contest during the 12-2 run.
• The Big Red methodically increased the lead pushing it to 16 with four minutes to play and 18 on a McBride free throw with 37 seconds left before halftime.
• The home team went into the locker room with an 18-point lead and momentum when Noll hit classmate Kobe Dickson on a pick-and-roll and the sophomore big man converted a shot with under a second left.
• Both McBride and Warren had eight first half points to lead the Big Red, together matching the entire NJIT scoring output over the first 20 minutes.
• Both teams had seven first half turnovers, though the Big Red had eight assists and NJIT had but one.
 

SECOND HALF

• NJIT started the comeback early, slicing the Big Red lead to 11 by the first media timeout and to nine immediately following thanks to a 13-4 run out of the locker room.
• The visitors kept hanging around, but still trailed by 10 (54-44) with 4:22 remaining after a dunk by Warren.
• From there, NJIT ended the game on a 15-4 run to steal the victory.
• Diakite scored four points and had four huge defensive rebounds over the final five minutes, while Gibbs and Cooks made the big shots.
• Cornell got looks in the final minutes, but missed three open 3-pointers to close the second half 1-of-16 from beyond the arc.
 

NEXT UP

• Cornell and DePaul meet on the hardwood for the first time ever when the two schools square off on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 12 p.m. CT (1:00 p.m. ET).
• The Big Red is 6-11 all-time against current members of the Big East, with its last victory coming against St. John's during the 2009-10 season (71-66 on Dec. 21, 2009 at Madison Square Garden).