WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Sophomore point guard Mike Gordon (Plainfield, N.J.) stole the ball at the top of the key and raced the entire length of the court for the game-winning layup with one-tenth of a second left to lift visiting Binghamton (8-9, 5-1 America East) past Hartford (6-10, 2-4 AE) 57-55 Thursday night from Chase Arena. The win was the fifth straight for the Bearcats, who moved into a first place tie in the America East Conference.

With the Hawks setting up for a potential game-winning play in the closing eight seconds, junior guard Troy Hailey (Hyattsville, Md.) tipped the ball away from Hawks guard Paris Carter at the top of the key and Gordon scooped it up and drove the length of the floor before laying in the winning basket.

"Troy (Hailey) deflected it and it came to me," Mike Gordon said of the clinching play. "I pushed it up the floor and had to get it off before time expired," he said. "We really locked down on defense in the second half."

Gordon wound up with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

With Binghamton's top three scorers in foul trouble, freshman forward Ian Milne (Winkler, Manitoba) led the team with 12 points and five rebounds. Hailey scored 11 points and senior forward Sebastian Hermenier (Rockville, Md.) added 10 points and six rebounds. Hailey and senior guard Andre Heard (Oklahoma City, Okla.) were saddled with four fouls each, limiting their effectiveness. Binghamton was whistled for 22 fouls to just 12 for the host team.

"It was a great game tonight," head coach Al Walker said. "I am so excited and really proud of the guys. It was a great defensive performance. I thought we were terrific."

The Bearcats trailed 31-26 at intermission but jumped out of the gate in the second half with back-to-back-to-back three-pointers (Milne-Hailey-Hailey) to take the lead. They held that lead until the Hawks hit a jumper with 2:19 to play to take a 55-53 advantage. But Heard's baseline jumper with 1:18 left drew BU even at 55-55, and after each team misfired on a three-point attempt, the stage was set for Gordon's heroics.

The second half was a see-saw affair with neither team leading by more than six points. In all, there were 13 ties and 11 lead changes in the game.

After playing three games in eight days, Binghamton is off until hosting Vermont on Wednesday, February 25. The America East Game of the Week will be televised on NESN.

"We have earned four very hard road victories in the conference," Walker continued. "We're really looking forward to coming home and playing Vermont."