Toledo's men fall short at Cornell

ITHACA, N.Y. — The University of Toledo men’s basketball team fell behind by as many as 21 points to Cornell on Friday and was unable to complete a comeback attempt in an 80-77 nonconference loss at Newman Arena.

"Our intensity to start the game wasn't good enough, and Cornell took advantage of that," UT coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We didn't defend their ball screen the way we wanted to, and that's something we need to correct in practice. This was a disappointing loss for us, especially after the way we played in our first four games this season."

Nate Navigato, shown in a game earlier this season, scored 22 points for Toledo, but the Rockets lost Friday at Cornell.

Nate Navigato paced Toledo (3-2) with 22 points, while Tre’Shaun Fletcher added 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

Junior guard Matt Morgan led Cornell (2-3) with 24 points, and Stone Gettings added 21 points.

Cornell worked to a 46-35 edge at halftime. Navigato tied the game at 30 with just under five minutes remaining in the half, but the Big Red went on a quick 9-0 run and led by 11 at the break.

The Rockets' deficit grew larger in the first five minutes of the second half as Cornell made four of their first six 3-point shots to take a 63-42 lead.

UT trimmed the Cornell lead to single digits at 67-59 with just under eight minutes to play and came within 78-74 on a Sanford 3 with 1:23 remaining.

Navigato then made it one-point game at 78-77 with 14.3 seconds to play. Morgan hit both free throws with 7.2 seconds left for the final margin.

Fletcher was fouled with 3.1 seconds on the clock but missed the front end of a one-and-one, and UT was unable to corral the rebound.

Toledo, which has lost two straight, returns to action at 8 p.m. Tuesday at third-ranked Kansas (4-0).