Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

VESTAL, N.Y. -  Binghamton men's basketball (0-1) welcomes Army West Point (1-0) to the Events Center for the Bearcats' home opener at 2 p.m. Sunday. In a special pre-game ceremony, the basketball court will be dedicated as "Dr. Bai Lee Court" in honor of local physician Bai Lee, whose recent gift of $1 million is the largest in Binghamton athletics history. 

After a strong showing in Friday's season opening 10-point loss at St. Bonaventure, BU will target its first win of the season but will have to get past a talented, veteran Army squad.   

On Friday in Olean, BU held a potent Bonnies lineup to just 63 points on 37 percent shooting and were just a few made jumpers away from an upset. The Bearcats were within striking range until the final minute and produced the closest game against their Atlantic 10 opponent in three tries at the Reilly Center.

Sophomore forward Willie Rodriguez offered team-highs of 12 points and eight rebounds and second-year center Dusan Perovic added 11 points and six boards. Sophomores Romello Walker and Justin McFadden added nine and eight points, respectively.   Army returns five senior starters from a 15-win team that opened last season 14-6 before losing nine of its last 10.

Senior Kyle Wilson (17.5 ppg) led the Patriot League in scoring last season and fellow all-conference selection Plomb (15.8 ppg) was not far behind.  Dylan Cox (10.1 ppg, 4.7 apg) has three years of experience as the starting point guard while Ferguson (9.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg) has been one of the Patriot League's top shot-blockers.  Larry Toomey (5.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg) completes the veteran group.
 
Army was picked fourth in the 10-team Patriot League by the head coaches and sports information directors. The program has achieved 15 wins in three consecutive seasons. 

In the all-time series between the two schools, Army leads 6-2. Last season, Wilson pumped in a game-high 25 points and Army coasted to an 80-54 home win. The hosts built a 15-point halftime lead and withstood 20 points and 10 rebounds from then-BU freshman Willie Rodriguez. Binghamton's first-ever win over a Division I team came against Army on January 10, 2001 (72-55 win at West Gym). The Bearcats then posted a 69-57 win one year later but have since dropped four straight in the series, including two by 20 or more points.