ITHACA, N.Y. - Freshman Caleb Williams led men's basketball in scoring for the second game in a row with 15 points in an 81-71 road loss to Cornell on Saturday afternoon in Newman Arena.

Lafayette shot a season-high 42.6 percent from the field and had 23 points off turnovers and 41 off the bench. Williams posted 15 points and three rebounds while shooting 56 percent from the floor and 4-of-5 from distance. Mark Butler (13), Devin Hines (11) and Luka Savicevic (11) rounded out the top scorers.

The Big Red jumped out to an initial 12-2 advantage by the 14-minute mark, opening the contest with back-to-back 3-pointers. Williams and Savicevic fought back with two shots from beyond the arc in the following two minutes to kick-start an 8-4 spurt to close the gap to six, 16-10, at 10:10.  

The Leopards trailed 28-21 with 3:21 left in the half, before Lafayette took off in a 10-3 run. The Maroon and White hit 5-of-9 from long range in that time period, led by freshman guard Alex Chaikin's eight points in the stretch. That tied the contest, 31-31, with 60 seconds on the clock. 

The Big Red's AK Okereke hit a pair of free throws to close out the first half with a two-point lead, 33-31.

Hines opened the second period by pacing the Leopards' 10 points with six of his own by 13:25, while Cornell continued its offensive advance with 17 points, setting them up by nine, 50-41.

Williams recorded eight points in a 12-5 Lafayette retaliation to keep the Leopards in contention, 55-53 at the 10-minute mark.

In the closing three minutes, Lafayette's Williams (1) and Hines (2) stood alone on the score sheet against the Big Red's 11-3 closing run, fueled by 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Cornell shot 48.1 percent from the field and 45.5 from beyond the arc. Guy Ragland led three opponents in double figures with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

The Leopards held their own on the glass, led by Hines and sophomore center Misha Bednostin with seven apiece. 

Next up, the Leopards travel to Rhode Island on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip-off in the Ryan Center.


For the latest on the Lafayette College men's basketball program, follow the Leopards on Twitter @LafayetteMBB and Instagram @lafayettembb.