VESTAL, N.Y. - Sophomore guard
J.C. Show scored a game-high 23 points and Binghamton men's basketball (1-0) shot 56 percent in the second half to defeat visiting Cornell (0-1) 68-62 in the season-opener for both teams Friday night at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center.
Show (8-for-13 FG) tallied 16 of his points in the decisive second half, including a key three-pointer at the end of the shot clock with 1:29 left that sealed the win. With BU up 62-57 coming out of a timeout, sophomore center
Thomas Bruce handed off to Show in the corner next to BU's bench and he drained the three. The Bearcats made three free throws in the final minute to secure it.
Junior center
Dusan Perovic added 14 points as BU put up a solid offensive number despite playing without leading scorer and all-conference forward
Willie Rodriguez, who sat out with an injury.
"It feels good to get that first game of the season and start off 1-0," head coach
Tommy Dempsey said. "It's something we hadn't been able to do and hopefully it will give us some momentum as we head into Monday's game at St. John's. Our defense was really good tonight and I thought it carried us in the second half. We did a great job covering up their three-point shooters and forced them into contested shots."
Binghamton held the Big Red to just 4-of-29 shooting from beyond the arc and 35 percent from the floor.
The game was tight throughout and was even at 37-37 with 10:26 remaining before BU's "second" five sparked a 14-5 run. Junior forward
Justin McFadden hit a three-pointer, sophomore guard
Timmy Rose followed with a high-banking layup and Show stuck a three to put BU up 45-39. After a free throw from Rose, he then spotted McFadden for an inside layup on the next possession. Rose then followed that up by feeding freshman guard
Fard Muhammad for a three - his first collegiate points - to cap the run and give the Bearcats a 51-42 cushion. In a span of 3:28, Rose delivered four points and three assists and McFadden added five points.
Cornell received 16 points from Matt Morgan and 14 from Stone Gettings.
The Bearcats next head to Queens for a Monday night tilt with BIG EAST member St. John's.
