ITHACA, N.Y. - Junior center Thomas Bruce scored a career-high 28 points with 11 rebounds but Binghamton basketball's second-half comeback came up short in a 94-84 loss at Cornell Monday night at Newman Arena. The Bearcats (1-1) trimmed a 22-point second-half deficit to just two with 13:45 left but ran out of steam and time against the host Big Red  (1-1), who benefited from 30-of-34 free throw accuracy.

Bruce hit 12-of-16 shots and netted 16 of his points in the second half when BU staged a furious rally. Sophomore guard Fard Muhammad added a career-high 18 points (12 in second), junior guard J.C. Show had 12 points (10 in second) and junior guard Timmy Rose chipped in 11 points and six assists. 

In a game of big runs, Cornell ended the first half with a 17-5 run to take a commanding 49-29 lead at break. After giving up a quick bucket on the first possession of the second half, BU trailed 51-29. But a Bearcats' 23-3 run spanning 5:39 brought them to within two, 54-52.  Show had eight of his points during the stretch and Rose's three-point play represented the final points of the run, which featured points from five different players. 

But Cornell answered with a 24-8 run to regain a comfortable cushion and the Bearcats could pull no closer than eight the rest of the way.

Binghamton shot 61 percent in the second half (53% for game) to tie for its second-highest scoring output in a half during its Division I era, topped only by the 59 second-half points it scored in a similarly-high-scoring affair at Cornell in 2013. On Monday, the teams combined for 100 second-half points. 

The Bearcats travel to face Atlantic 10 member George Mason on Thursday in Fairfax, Va.