Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

VESTAL, N.Y. - Two longtime SUNY rivals meet for the 60th time since 1962 when Binghamton hosts Stony Brook at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Events Center.

BINGHAMTON LAST TIME OUT
On Monday, first-place Vermont built a 10-point halftime lead and went on to a 64-44 win over Binghamton (2-19, 1-5 AE) in Burlington. The Catamounts, led from start to finish, made 21-of-23 free throws and won for the 12th time in 14 all-time home meetings against BU. The Bearcats drew no closer than eight points in the second half.
 
Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez led BU with 12 points – the sixth time in the last eight games he's reached double figures. First-year guard Romello Walker added nine points for the Bearcats, whose comeback bid was hampered by seven foul calls in the first 7:40 of the second half.  
 
Binghamton shot just 34 percent and was minus 10 on the glass.

After Sunday, BU heads to Baltimore to face UMBC on Wednesday night before returning to Vestal to host UMass Lowell next Saturday afternoon.

SCOUTING STONY BROOK
On Thursday, the Seawolves (13-8, 4-2 AE) blew past UMass Lowell on the road, 65-45. Juniors Rayshaun McGrew and Jameel Warney combined for 28 points and 15 rebounds and Stony Brook scored 50 of its 65 points in the paint. McGrew finished with game-highs of 15 points and eight rebounds. Warney posted 13 points and seven rebounds.

Stony Brook has won eight of its last 10 after losing four straight in early December. In league play, SBU beat UNH (71-61), UMBC (64-54) and Maine (82-39) and lost to Vermont (71-57) and Albany (64-47).

The Seawolves were picked to win the America East by the conference head coaches one year after posting the program's fourth 20-win season in its last five. The Seawolves return a pair of America East preseason all-conference selections in juniors Jameel Warney and Carson Puriefoy. Warney (14.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg) took home America East Player of the Year honors as a sophomore while Puriefoy (12.9 ppg) was a second-team all-conference selection.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Stony Brook leads the all-time series, which began in 1962, 34-25. Since both teams elevated to Division I in the America East, however, Binghamton leads 15-14. But the Seawolves have claimed the last nine games, with an average margin of victory of 19 points during the streak. Last season, SBU won 67-47 on Long Island and then completed the season sweep with a 58-53 win at the Events Center. In that most recent game, the Seawolves closed with an 8-2 run to escape in front of a season-high 4,635 and an ESPN3 audience. The Bearcats led with under two minutes left, held Stony Brook 15 points under its season scoring average (73 ppg.) and matched the first-place Seawolves on the glass (35-35) but missed three three-point attempts in the final 55 seconds to come up short. 

QUICK HITS
•    Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez scored 12 points at Vermont and has hit double-digits in six of his last eight games. He is BU's leading scorer (10.4 ppg.) and rebounder (5.2 rpg.) among active players.

• Binghamton has produced three different conference Rookies of the Week:  Dusan Perovic on 12/8, Willie Rodriguez on 12/29 and Romello Walker on 1/12. The Bearcats are nearing last year's rare feat of having four different players earn top rookie weekly honors.

• Binghamton has been hit by two key injuries to its frontcourt. Six-foot-9 sophomore Nick Madray went down with an ankle injury after scoring 20 points vs. St. Bonaventure on Dec. 20. He has missed the last seven games. Six-foot-9 center and leading scorer Dusan Perovic (11.5 ppg.) suffered an ACL injury at practice on Jan. 5 and will be lost for the remainder of the season.

• Binghamton has statistically the youngest team in the entire country (StatSheet.com). It's 14 players have a combined 10 years of collegiate experience. There are only two upperclassmen on the roster (1 senior, 1 junior).

• Four of the team's top-5 scorers are freshmen and the starting lineup features four freshmen and a sophomore.