Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

BALTIMORE, Md. - Binghamton men's basketball looks to begin a movement in the standings when the Bearcats (2-20, 1-6 AE) face host UMBC (3-17, 1-6 AE) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the RAC Arena. The game, the first of the season between the two teams, pits opponents similarly hampered by injuries and attrition.

QUICK HITS
• Binghamton is coming off a quality performance Sunday against visiting Stony Brook. The Bearcats outrebounded the top AE team in the boards and pushed the Seawolves to the closing minutes in a 61-54 loss.        

• Sophomore guard Marlon Beck tallied a team-high 15 points vs. Stony Brook. Beck has scored in double figures in four of his last six games and is averaging 10.4 ppg. in conference play. 

• Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez scored 10 points at Vermont and has hit double-digits in seven of his last nine 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 eight 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. 

LAST TIME OUT
On Sunday, sophomore guard Marlon Beck led four players in double figures with 15 points but Stony Brook's Carson Puriefoy netted 27, including 14 of his team's final 16 points and the visiting Seawolves held off the Bearcats 61-54 at the Events Center.

Binghamton used a 9-0 run midway through the second period to take its first lead of the game, 46-45, with 5:57 left. But Puriefoy put Stony Brook on his back and tallied seven straight points to spark an 11-0 Seawolves run that gave them a double-digit lead with 2:23 left. A driving layup from Beck pulled BU to within eight, 56-48, with 1:59 left but Puriefoy answered with a three-pointer and BU got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Beck hit 6-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-5 three-pointers in a foul-laden 24 minutes. Freshman center Bobby Ahearn hit 5-of-10 for 11 points. Working against Stony Brook standout center Jameel Warney, undersized Ahearn grabbed four offensive rebounds (six total) and chipped in a block and two steals in 29 minutes. Freshmen Justin McFadden and Willie Rodriguez added 10 points apiece.

Stony Brook entered the game ranked ninth in the nation in rebound margin (+9.2) but BU held a 38-34 advantage on the glass.

SCOUTING UMBC
The Retrievers are down to just eight available roster players (6 scholarship players) after a series of injuries and departures. In AE play, UMBC defeated Maine on the road last Thursday, 76-59. In their last outing, UMBC lost at Albany 69-55. The team has had narrow losses to Hartford (65-63 at buzzer), UNH (63-60) and UMass Lowell (73-61 in ot). UMBC is playing without one of the top scorers in the conference as reigning America East Rookie of the Year Rodney Elliott went down with a shoulder injury was lost for the season. Coming off a nine-win season last winter, the Retrievers were picked to finish seventh in the Coaches' Preseason Poll.  

ALL-TIME SERIES
Binghamton leads the all-time series 13-12, though the Retrievers have won six of the last eight head-to-head matchups. The teams split the season series a year ago with each team winning on the road. UMBC posted a 73-61 win at the Events Center on January 29 and BU returned the favor, 72-70, in Baltimore three weeks later. In that game, BU built an 18-point second-half lead and made 4-of-6 free throws in the final 1:32 to hold off UMBC. After the Retrivers rallied to take the lead with 1:42 left, BU scored six of the game's final eight points to lock in the win. Yosef Yacob scored a game-high 20 points, 14 coming in the first half. Marlon Beck delivered 11 of his 16 points in the final 12:10 of the game.