For Immediate Release: February 13, 2005
Contact: John Hartrick
Phone: 607-777-6800

Binghamton men's basketball wins fourth in a row, 62-54 over New Hampshire
Bearcats climb into fifth place in America East standings

Box score

DURHAM, N.H. - Visiting Binghamton (9-14, 6-8 America East) jumped out to a 17-point lead early in the game and hung tough down th stretch to post a 62-54 victory over New Hampshire (7-16, 3-11 AE) in an America East men's basketball game Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Bearcats stretched their win streak to four and moved into fifth place in the conference standings.

"It was a good game for us, head coach Al Walker said. I was real pleased with the way we passed the ball and played defense."

Binghamton shot out of the gate in the first half, racing to a 20-3 lead as the Wildcats missed their first six shots and turned the ball over six times in the first five minutes. Seven different BU players scored during the run. Trailing 25-8 with 7:46 left in the period, UNH responded, however, with a 17-4 run to climb back into the game. Binghamton managed just three field goals over the final 7:45 and its lead dwindled to six, 33-27, at intermission.

Junior guard Andre Heard (Oklahoma City, Okla.) scored a game-high 16 points and senior center Alex Adediran (Covington, Ga.) added 13 points for the Bearcats. Sophomore guard Troy Hailey (Hyattsville, Md.) chipped in 10 points.

Adediran played a key role down the stretch, as he scored six straight BU points in a span of 2:51 after the Wildcats had tightened the score. New Hampshire trailed just 52-47 with 4:18 to play before Adediran took an inside feed from Heard and was fouled on the way up. He made both free throws and then on BU's next possession, Adediran took another pass from Heard and converted the inside layup for a 56-47 margin. The Bearcats then made 4-of-4 free throws to stave off any UNH comeback.

Binghamton returns home to face UMBC Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Events Center.

NOTES
The Bearcats won for the second time on the road in 2004-05 (2-8) ... The team's 11th different starting lineup this season remained unbeaten (Gordon, Heard, Hailey, Hermenier, Fithian) at 4-0 ... Binghamton and UNH split the season series, with each team winning on the road ... BU and Maine are now tied for fifth place in the 10-team league, but the Bearcats hold the tiebreaker edge with a season sweep of the Black Bears.