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Dec. 4, 2004

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ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - St. Bonaventure went scoreless over the final 4:53 and Cornell escaped the Reilly Center with a 58-54 win Saturday night, dropping the Bonnies to 0-5.

Cornell led by five at the break, but Bonnies freshman guard Willie Morse opened the second half with a hot shooting hand, and his second three-pointer of the stanza tied the game at 37-37 at the 16:04 mark.

Seconds later, the Bonnies got their first lead of the game when Smith stole an inbounds pass and fed Carter for a breakaway layup to make it 39-37.

The Bonnies could never pull away from the pesky Big Red, though, and it was a 54-53 Bona lead with 4:25 remaining after two free throws by Cornell's Lenny Collins. The score remained the same until Ryan Rourke's traditional three-point play with 29 seconds left gave Cornell a 56-54 advantage.

On the ensuing possession, Lottin pulled up in the lane and was fouled by Cody Toppert with five seconds remaining. But Lottin missed both free throws and Cornell hung on. Andrew Naeve sealed the win with two free throws with 3.2 ticks left.

"We have been here before," Bonnies coach Anthony Solomon said. "I certainly wish the young men could have come out victorious tonight to reinforce all the hard work they put into it. The (scoring) droughts we had tonight cost us."

St. Bonaventure got off to a slow start, a recurring problem in this young season. Cornell scored the first six points of the game. The Bonnies did not get on the scoreboard until junior guard Ahmad Smith's layin 4:44 into the game and they scored only three points over the initial 8:34 of the night. Much of the first half was a defensive struggled with multiple missed shots on both ends of the floor.

Back-to-back three-pointers and a fastbreak layin gave the Big Red a 19-10 lead with 5:13 to play in the opening half. Jason Canady's three-pointer made it 27-17 for Cornell at the 2:05 mark. The Bonnies got a three-pointer from junior forward Patrick Lottin and an offensive rebound put-back by sophomore guard Kern Carter to cut the deficit to 29-24 at halftime.

The Bonnies shot 44 percent (20-45) from the field, including 32 percent (6-19) from behind the arc. Free throws were a key factor, as the Bonnies converted only eight of 17 attempts in the game including 0-5 in the second half. St. Bonaventure also committed 13 turnovers - three in the final 3:24.

Lottin poured in 18 points to go with a team-high six rebounds and three assists to lead the Bonnies. Morse finished with a season high 10 points, including his pair of three-point buckets, and a team-high four assists. Smith chipped in with seven points, three assists, three rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Kern Carter played 22 minutes and scored six points.

"Willie (Morse) played well tonight," said Solomon. "I didn't go to the bench as much tonight because I did not think that some of them were playing well enough... I played Willie because he was producing and I played Kern Carter because he stepped up defensively and was making plays."

Cornell center Eric Taylor led the Big Red with 17 points on the night. He also pulled down eight boards as the Big Red outrebounded the Bonnies 27-26.

"(Eric) Taylor has taken his game to another level, especially against more athletic kids," said Cornell head coach Steve Donahue. "He's playing well above and around the rim. He is in great condition and is giving me good minutes."

Cornell improved to 2-4 on the season.

St. Bonaventure returns to action on Tuesday at West Virginia at 7:00.