Men’s basketball has lived on the edge all season, and Sunday night in Birmingham, Alabama delivered another heart-pounding chapter, this time ending just a possession short.
In a game defined by wild momentum swings, blistering scoring stretches and a raucous Southern crowd, Cornell built an eight-point second-half lead before Samford University stormed back to hand the Red a narrow 93-90 loss at the Pete Hanna Center. The defeat dropped Cornell to 5-5, while Samford improved to 5-6 behind a career performance from guard Jadin Booth.
Cornell arrived in Alabama hungry to close out its road-heavy early schedule with a win, and for the opening 25 minutes, it looked like the Red might run Samford out of its own gym. The ball popped from side to side, shooters stayed in rhythm and the Red’s tempo repeatedly disrupted the Bulldogs’ defense. Senior guard Cooper Noard once again led the charge, carving up Samford’s perimeter coverages with a mix of catch-and-shoot threes, pull-ups and drives on his way to 23 points.
Cornell’s offense immediately clicked, generating clean looks through crisp passing and timely cutting. Senior guard Adam Hinton, whose consistency has become a hallmark of the Red’s early-season identity, floated into the mid-range and attacked the rim en route to 16 points and six boards. With junior guard Jacob Beccles facilitating and senior guard Jake Fiegen gobbling up rebounds, Cornell built a 50-42 halftime lead and carried every bit of that control into the second half.
The Red pushed the margin to 63-48 with 14:34 left after a confident corner three from senior guard Josh Baldwin. Cornell had complete command of the pace, controlling the glass and forcing Samford into rushed possessions. But in a game that lived on runs, the Bulldogs delivered the night’s turning point immediately afterward.
A 19-4 Samford run flipped the energy inside the arena and tilted the momentum sharply. Booth, who finished with 30 points, began to heat up from everywhere on the floor — deep threes, tough mid-range pull-ups and drives through traffic. His sudden surge destabilized Cornell’s defensive footing, and paired with a near-perfect interior effort from Dylan Faulkner, Samford suddenly erased the deficit. Faulkner bulldozed his way to a 23-point, 12-rebound double-double on 9-10 shooting, igniting a fire of soft-touch finishes and clean seals around the rim.
In one dizzying stretch midway through the half, the Bulldogs capped their run with Booth burying a three before Faulkner scored twice more on a single extended possession to tie the game at 67-67 with 9:47 remaining. The Red, which had dominated for the majority of the night, now found itself in a heavyweight exchange.
Still, Cornell never stopped swinging. Senior forward DJ Nix knotted the game at 77-77 with a clutch three-pointer at the five-minute mark. Baldwin battled on the interior and added seven points, five rebounds and three blocks, while Fiegen hauled down a career-high 10 boards before fouling out. The Red repeatedly kept the game within one possession despite Samford’s push at the foul line, where the Bulldogs gained their greatest advantage in free throws, finishing 23-33 to Cornell’s 13-19.
With just over a minute left, Noard slipped into the lane and lofted in a smooth runner to tie things at 84-84, but Booth once again answered, draining a contested three from the right wing to retake the lead with 44 seconds on the clock. Cornell fought back as Fiegen converted a tip-in and added a free throw to cut the margin to 89-87 with 20 seconds left, but Samford’s Cade and Keaton Norris combined to hit three of four free throws in the closing moments to preserve the edge.
Even in the final seconds, Cornell kept the crowd breathless. Junior guard Ian Imegwu, who sparked the Red off the bench, knocked down his third three of the night with only a second remaining to pull Cornell within three. But after a week of road battles against three of the nation’s top mid-major programs, the Red ran out of time.
Cornell finished the night shooting 42 percent from the field and 13-37 from beyond the arc, while winning the rebounding battle 42-37. Beccles added 10 points and five assists with only one turnover in 27 minutes, continuing his steady play at the point. Imegwu’s late scoring surge gave the Red a final lifeline, and Hinton’s two-way presence steadied the team throughout, but Samford’s free-throw advantage and Booth’s late-game shot-making proved just enough to tilt the contest.
Still, Cornell’s road swing has revealed plenty: depth, resilience, a growing defensive identity and an explosive offense capable of overwhelming stretches.
Cornell will next travel to the University at Albany on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 3 p.m. at Broadview Center in Albany, NY. The game will stream live on ESPN+. UAlbany leads the all-time series 5-2 and has won the last two meetings, but the Red will enter the matchup sharpened by experience and eager to turn narrow losses into statement wins.
Sureya Lopez is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a staff writer for the sports department and can be reached at slopez@cornellsun.com.
