BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Samford's Jadin Booth scored 30 points and Dylan Faulkner posted a 23-point, 12-rebound double-double as the Bulldogs rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to edge Cornell 93-90 on Sunday night at the Pete Hanna Center. Samford improved to 5-6, while the Big Red slipped to 5-5.

Senior Cooper Noard led Cornell with 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting, while classmate Adam Hinton added 16 points and six rebounds. Senior Josh Baldwin scored 12 points, junior Jacob Beccles had 10 points and five assists, and senior Jake Fiegen posted nine points and a career-high 10 rebounds before fouling out. Cornell shot .421 from the field, hit 13-of-37 from 3-point range and owned a 42–37 edge on the glass. 

Samford matched Cornell's 32 field goals but did its damage at the foul line, finishing 23-of-33 on free throws to Cornell's 13-of-19. Booth went 9-of-16 from the floor, 3-of-9 from 3-point range and a perfect 9-of-9 at the line, while Faulkner shot 9-of-10 from the field. Cade Norris chipped in 13 points and Keaton Norris had nine points and seven assists for the Bulldogs. 

Cornell led 50-42 at halftime and pushed the margin to 63-48 on a 3-pointer by Baldwin with 14:34 remaining. The Bulldogs answered with a 19-4 run, capped by Booth's 3-pointer and back-to-back buckets from Faulkner as part of a six-point trip down the court for Samford, to pull even at 67-67 with 9:47 to play.

Senior DJ Nix briefly drew Cornell level again at 77-77 with a 3-pointer at the 5:00 mark, but Faulkner scored inside on the next possession and Samford never trailed again. Booth's deep 3-pointer from the right wing gave the Bulldogs the lead for good at 87-84 with 44 seconds left, and he added four free throws in the final 28 seconds to salt the win away.

Noard's runner in the lane tied it at 84-84 with 71 seconds remaining, but Booth responded with his go-ahead trey. After two more Booth free throws pushed the lead to 89-84, Cornell got a tip-in and free throw from Fiegen to close within 89-87 with 20 seconds left. Keaton Norris and Cade Norris combined to go 3-of-4 at the line in the final 11 seconds, and although junior Ian Imegwu drilled a transition 3, his third of the night, with one second left, the Big Red ran out of time and suffered its third loss of the week on the road against top mid-major teams.

NEXT UP

• The Cornell men's basketball team returns from a two-week exam break when it visits UAlbany on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. at Broadview Center.
• The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• UAlbany leads the all-time series 5-2 and has won two consecutive games, the last coming in the 2016-17 season.