VESTAL, NY – Binghamton Men's Basketball (13-14, 5-9 America East) made 4 of 6 shots and sank 6 of 8 free throws in overtime to thwart visiting Maine (13 -16, 5-9 US East) ) 76-74 Thursday night at Dr. Bai Lee Court in the Event Center. With this win, BU completed the season against the Black Bears, clinched a playoff berth, and moved into a four-way tie for fifth place in the standings with two regular season games remaining.
graduate Ahmon Khalid Returns to point guard role with NCAA's No. 2 assist man Simia Torrens Although he missed the game, Khalid played the full 45 minutes and recorded 16 points, eight rebounds, and a career-high seven assists. 1st year forward gavin walsh Graduate forward had a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Dan Petcash 13 points, 10 boards, senior guard's third double-double of the season, a team high. Tim Chenery He added 13 points and surpassed the 1,000-point career scoring record in the process.
“It was an important game and the game we really wanted,'' said the head coach. level sanders Said. “Maine is a rough-and-tumble team that plays hard and plays zone, so some of us talked about going 'lights out' today, and that's exactly what happened. It was a total effort, so I'm happy to get the 'W'.”
After leading by as many as 13 points in the first half, BU had to settle for a 39-31 advantage at halftime, but saw the lead disappear on a 14-0 Black Bears run early in the second half. Maine led by six points with less than six minutes left in regulation, and the Bearcats fought back. Pettcash and Khaled made 3-pointers in the space of 1:16 to put BU in front 60-58 with 3:41 left. Walsh added a layup with 2:26 remaining, and the teams played the final 2:07 without scoring, sending the game into overtime.
Senior forward in extra session Nehemiah Benson Double the point total in regulation with two buckets and two steals in five minutes of OT to ignite BU's push. Playing with a lead, the Bearcats made enough free throws (four in the final 14 seconds) to win despite missing 12 foul shots in the game.
Binghamton entered the game averaging just five 3-pointers, but made 7 of 10 in the first half, including two by Khalid. The Bearcats went 11-of-23 in the game, their second best mark of the season.
Chenery reached the 1,000-point milestone with a 3-pointer with 7:39 left in the first half. He scored 642 points in three seasons at Quinnipiac and currently has 359 points as a Bearcat.
The Bearcats will play their final home game of the regular season when they host New Hampshire on Saturday at 2 p.m.
