ITHACA, N.Y. -- On a night when the Cornell men's basketball team lifted an NIT banner to honor its successful 2023-24 season, the Big Red showed this year's version has some championship fight to it as well.

Sophomore Jake Fiegen drilled a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left on the clock to rally the Big Red to an 88-86 victory in a wild early season non-conference matchup on Friday evening at Newman Arena. The Big Red upped its record to 2-0, while Samford slipped to 1-1.

Trailing 86-85 after AK Okereke hit a pair of free throws on the offensive end, Cornell got a defensive stop and the junior grabbed the rebound. after giving it up to Fiegen, the sophomore found an open Cooper Noard in the corner. The junior missed the shot, but Okereke corralled the long rebound, took a dribble and dished to Fiegen whose shot was pure. The Big Red team piled on the guard as the clock went to zero, but an official review put 0.8 seconds back on the clock. Samford attempted a long inbounds pass and Noard got his hands on it, knocking the ball out of bounds in front of the visitors' bench. After another review, it was determined the entire 0.8 seconds ran off the clock and the Big Red celebrated the victory.




Fiegen ended the night with a career-high 21 points and added seven rebounds and three steals to lead five double-figure scorers. Senior Guy Ragland Jr. posted his fifth career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds,  Okereke scored 16 points with seven rebounds and four assists, Noard chipped in 12 points and four rebounds and senior Nazir Williams posted 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore Jacob Beccles and junior DJ Nix each chipped in six points and Ryan Kiachian was credited with five rebounds and three assists off the bench. In all, the Big Red held a 44-38 edge on the backboards and overcame 18 turnovers and 43 percent shooting to claim the win.

Collin Hollway scored 21 points with six assists to face four double figures for the Bulldogs. Rylan Jones added 16 points and both Trey Fort and Julian Brown scored 14 apiece. Samford was limited to 39 percent shooting, staying in the game with a giant 25-10 edge in points off turnovers.

FIRST HALF
• After unveiling its newest postseason banner in the rafters during pregame, the Big Red came out a bit flat, falling behind 9-0 2:39 into the contest.
• Beccles finally broke the lid 2:46 in on a driving layup, though the Bulldogs went back up nine as late as 18-9 with 11:07 on the clock.
• A a conventional three-point play by Williams triggered a 13-0 Big Red run to give the home team the lead punctuated by a steal and fastbreak bucket by Adam Hinton to make it 22-18 with nine minutes to play.
• Cornell scored 28 points in those final nine minutes and 41 over the last 11.
• Cornell led by as many as 13 late in the first half on the first of two 3-pointers on the night by Nix, but Samford's Holloway scored a driving basket at the horn to make it a 50-39 contest at the break.
• Noard had a team-high 11 points at the break, including hitting three 3-pointers, and the big Red defense forced 10 turnovers and held the Bulldogs to 35 percent shooting over the first 20 minutes.

SECOND HALF
• Cornell maintained a two-possession lead over the first nine minutes of the second half, but the final 11 were a whirlwind with seven ties and six lead changes.
• Samford caught the Big Red on the first of two free throws by Holloway with 10:29 left, then took a 65-64 lead on the second.
• Fiegen got a big defensive stand with under six minutes to play when he blocked a Samford shot on one end and Josh Baldwin scored on a nice find by Nazir Williams on the other to put the Big Red up 76-73.
• Okereke also had a huge three-point play with 3:24 remaining to break a 76-76 tie.
• Samford held a lead for most of the final 2:30, and it was 86-84 after Holloway scored his final points on a layup with 57 seconds remaining.
• Okereke made a pair of free throws to get the game back within one with 47 seconds remaining, setting up the final seconds.

UP NEXT
• The Big Red hits the road for the first time in the 2024-25 season when it visits La Salle on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• Cornell holds a narrow 3-2 edge in the all-time series and has won two straight, including a 78-75 road victory over the Explorers on Dec. 29, 2009.
• The Big Red is 1-2 against the Explorers in Philadelphia, Pa.