ITHACA, N.Y. - Host Cornell (10-3) closed the game with a 14-6 run to pull away from Binghamton (4-9) 86-70 Thursday night at Newman Arena. It was the final non-conference game of the season for the Bearcats, who now turn their attention to America East play.

Binghamton whittled a 21-point deficit to eight with 4:58 to play, thanks to a 17-4 run. But Cornell steadied itself with a 3-pointer - one of eight on the evening - and then finished off its wide margin at the free throw line, where the Big Red made 18-of-23 for the game to account for the margin. Both teams made 30 field goals in the game but BU hurt its cause with 20 turnovers.

"Twenty turnovers against a team that can score and shoot the way they do is way too many," head coach Levell Sanders said. "We have to be much better than that and take care of the ball. I thought we did a good job tonight of breaking pressure and scoring. But we have to protect the ball."

Junior forward Armon Harried scored a career-high 25 points to help the Bearcats keep pace for much of the game. Harried hit 11-of-19 field goals and added eight rebounds. Graduate student Christian Hinckson tallied 16 points and nine rebounds and graduate Miles Gibson added 12 points. Leading scorer Jacob Falko turned to distribution tonight, handing out a team-high five assists. 

"Armon did a good job for us tonight," Sanders said. "He can dominate inside and he raises the competitive nature of our team."

The Bearcats shot 54 percent and won the rebound battle (33-26) but still couldn't slow down a Cornell team that came into the game as one of the highest-scoring teams in the country (85 ppg.) and met its season scoring average. The Big Red shot 52 percent and used an 18-5 run spanning five+ minutes early in the second half to pull away after the teams played a fairly even first period.

With Harried scoring 16 of BU's first 30 points, the Bearcats traded blows for much of the first half. Halfway through the period, it was 20-20. But Cornell used a 16-6 run spanning six minutes to forge a double-digit lead. The Bearcats brought it back to eight, down 44-36 at half. The first period featured six ties and seven lead changes.  

Binghamton heads straight to Smithfield, R.I. for its New Year's Eve matinee at first-year America East member Bryant. It will be the conference opener for both teams.

"It's a new season now," Sanders said. "Bryant is a good team. We will have to be focused and concentrate on what we need to do on both sides of the ball."