PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Brown's defense proved to be the difference as the Bears closed the first half and opened the second half on an extended 29-8 run that turned the game around and led the home team to a 75-51 victory over Cornell on Saturday evening at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Brown (18-10, 6-6 Ivy) moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Ancient Eight with two games to play, while the Big Red fell to 13-15 (5-7 Ivy).

A 12-2 Brown run to end the first half set the table for the Bears' 17-6 spurt to start the second and resulted in the Big Red dropping a game behind Brown for the fourth and final playoff slot for the Ivy League Tournament. Cornell is tied for fifth with Penn at 5-7 with home games against Harvard and Dartmouth remaining. The Bears and Quakers play each other on the final weekend, while the Big Red will be attempting to complete season sweeps of the Crimson and Big Green while celebrating its five seniors next weekend.

Senior Matt Morgan extended his streak of consecutive games in double figures for 79, but for the second straight night it was a struggle. Morgan, already No. 2 on the Ivy League's career scoring list, scored all 14 of his points in the second half and added nine rebounds and five assists. Classmate Joel Davis was also in double figures with a season-high 11, while Jimmy Boeheim chipped in seven points and four boards. The visitors shot just 31 percent from the floor overall and made 5-of-26 shots from beyond the arc (19 percent) in dropping its fifth straight contest.

Brown, meanwhile, had five double figure scorers with Josh Howard leading the way with 16 off the bench and Obi Okolie adding 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals, including his 1,000th career point. Tamenang Choh (11 points), Zach Hunsaker (11 points) and Brandon Anderson (10 points) all reached double figures, while leading scorer Desmond Cambridge was limited to 2-of-15 shoot, but still managed six points and seven rebounds. The Bears held a 39-32 edge on the glass and outscored the Big Red 17-8 off turnovers. Cornell coughed it up 17 times total.

NOTES TO KNOW
• With three assists, Morgan moved into the top 10 on the career list with 282.
• Now at 624 points this season, Morgan is six shy of the single-season mark he set last season (630).
• The loss puts Cornell in a tie with Penn at 5-7, a game behind fourth-place Brown (6-6). The Bears and Quakers meet on the season's final day.
• Barring postseason play, Morgan will close his career with the 12th-longest double figure scoring streak in NCAA history. At 79 games and only two regular season games remaining, he can only get to 81 - one shy of Wofford's  Noah Dahlman and two from LSU's "Pistol" Pete Maravich at 83.

NEXT UP
• The Big Red closes out the regular season with contests against Harvard and Dartmouth beginning with the Crimson on Friday, March 8 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• Cornell will be attempting to complete its first season sweep of the Crimson since the 2009-10 campaign.