BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Javon McCrea and Mitchell Watt scored 19 points apiece to help Buffalo hold off Cornell 68-59 on Wednesday night.
The Bulls (2-0) opened up big leads in both halves, with the Big Red getting close each time but never pulling ahead.
With Buffalo up 21-9, Cornell (1-2) closed to 24-22 with 3:39 left in the first half.
The Bulls took a 29-24 edge into halftime, increasing the lead to 41-29 with 14:03 remaining. However, turnover trouble and timely shooting helped the Big Red tie it at 41 with 11:08 left.
McCrea hit two free throws to give Buffalo the lead for good at 48-46 with 6:32 remaining.
The Bulls made 18 of 22 free throws while Cornell was only 4 of 8 from the foul line.
McCrea had 10 boards for a double-double as Buffalo dominated the glass, outrebounding Cornell 41-30.
Cornell was led by Eitan Chemerinski with 14 points.
| Scoreboard | |||
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
| Cornell (1-2) | 24 | 35 | 59 |
| Buffalo (2-0) « | 29 | 39 | 68 |
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| Cornell Big Red | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| E. Chemerinski, F | 21 | 7-10 | 0-0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| D. Tarwater, F | 14 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| D. Ferry, G | 34 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| C. Wroblewski, G | 34 | 2-10 | 1-2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| J. Gray, G | 13 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| G. Cancer | 24 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| S. Miller | 20 | 4-11 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| M. Asafo-Adjei | 15 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| J. Figini | 15 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| M. Groebe | 7 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Giddens | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P. McMillan | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 24-64 | 4-8 | 30 | 16 | 21 | 59 | |
| 37.5% | 50% | ||||||
| Buffalo Bulls | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| J. McCrea, F | 30 | 7-13 | 5-6 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 19 |
| M. Watt, F | 29 | 7-10 | 5-5 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 19 |
| Z. Filzen, G | 39 | 4-10 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| J. Oldham, G | 30 | 1-6 | 6-8 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 8 |
| D. Barnett, G | 24 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| T. Robinson | 16 | 2-5 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| T. Watson II | 15 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Nuiriankh | 9 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| X. Ford | 5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| C. Raley-Ross | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 23-50 | 18-22 | 41 | 17 | 16 | 68 | |
| 46% | 81.8% | ||||||
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