Box Score JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Cornell defeated Saint Peter's 65-62 in non-conference men's basketball action on Monday.
Antwon Portley (Lancaster, Texas/Lancaster) paced the Peacocks (4-7) with 22 points for his fifth 20-point performance this season. The freshman went 8-for-16 from the floor, 4 of 11 from behind the arc and 2 of 4 from the free throw line.
Will Bathurst powered the Big Red (6-6) with 18 points while Matt Morgan posted 17 points and Robert Hatter registered 16 points in the winning effort.
Saint Peter's did not go away on the night against Cornell, but the Big Red took the lead in the final five minutes and held on to earn its first win in the series.
After Cameron Jones (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) gave the Peacocks its final lead at 47-45 on a 3-pointer with 5:27 left, Cornell went on a 16-4 run over the next four minutes to take a 61-54 advantage. Hatter scored consecutive baskets to give the Big Red the lead for good with 4:44 on the clock while Hatter and Morgan fueled the run with six points apiece.
Morgan gave Cornell an eight-point lead for the third time in the final minutes before Saint Peter's cut the margin to two points. Chazz Patterson (Brown Mills, N.J./Trenton Catholic) drained a trey with 17 seconds left and the Portley nailed a triple of his own two seconds later to cut the deficit to 63-61, but Morgan made both of his free throws to restore a four-point lead with 12 seconds left. Elisha Boone (Laurelton, N.Y./Lincoln) made 1 of 2 at the line to trim the margin to 65-62 with six seconds left and after the Big Red missed two at the line Portley's desperation heave came up short to give Cornell its first win in four games in the matchup.
The Big Red scored 19 of the first 27 points of the game to jump out to an 11-point lead with 9:29 left in the first half. Bathurst powered the run with 11 points.
With Cornell holding a 26-15 margin, Saint Peter's closed the final four minutes and 35 seconds of the half on an 11-3 run to go into the locker room trailing 29-26. Jones hit a pair of 3's and Portley also drained one from downtown in the spurt.
The Peacocks then scored the first five points of the second half to take its first lead since the opening minute of the contest. Rodney Hawkins (Baltimore, Md./Lake Clifton) scored in the lane at 19:35 and Portley hit a trey at 18:22 for a 31-29 edge.
The Big Red answered with a 9-2 run to take a 38-33 lead with 13:44 left after a Darryl Smith triple only to see a pair of Portley baskets and a Boone dunk reclaim the lead for Saint Peter's at 39-38 with 11:40 remaining.
Cornell responded with another spurt after scoring seven unanswered points to grab a 45-39 lead with 7:31 remaining. Portley and Jones then scored the next seven points to restore the lead for Saint Peter's at 47-45, but Hatter scored the next four points to give the Big Red the lead it would not relinquish.
Jones scored nine points in the game. Boone posted six points and 10 rebounds while Quadir Welton (Philadelphia, Pa./Math, Civics and Science Charter) registered six points and nine rebounds and Hawkins hauled in nine rebounds.
Saint Peter's, who won its first two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference games in December, restarts league play on Monday at Marist. Game time is 7 p.m.
