VESTAL, N.Y. - Visiting Loyola (5-5) battled back from 16 points down in the second half and handed Binghamton men's basketball (7-5) a 90-85 overtime defeat Saturday afternoon at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. The loss, in front of 4,037 fans, snapped BU's three-game win streak and was the team's first setback at home this season.

The Bearcats led 67-51 with 7:43 remaining and holding a shooting percentage in the high 60s, seemed headed for a fourth straight win. But the Greyhounds trimmed it to 10, 75-65, with 3:34 left and then outscored BU 12-2 to send the game to overtime. Binghamton had a chance to win it in regulation when redshirt sophomore guard J.C. Show drove in the lane and pulled up for a short jumper but Loyola forward Jarred Jones blocked the shot in traffic to force the extra five minutes.

In overtime, BU made just 3-of-8 shots and the Greyhounds sank 7-of-8 free throws to preserve their lead.

"It's a bitter loss when you have that kind of a second-half lead and control the majority of the game," head coach Tommy Dempsey said. "We played really good basketball to get to the point where we established the lead. But we didn't get good enough possessions and it got away from us. Give Loyola credit ... they hung in there and kept fighting. They beat us up on the glass. We were getting stops but we couldn't secure rebounds and that was the difference down the stretch and in overtime. We couldn't rebound the ball effectively enough to win."

Everything was going right for BU for the first 30+ minutes. Aside from the nine first-half turnovers, BU was sparklling, converting a season-high 73 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes (16-of-22). After spotting Loyola an 18-7 lead in the game's first six minutes, BU put its foot down with a 21-2 run that featured nine points from junior forward Dusan Perovic. That big run, which spanned 6:10, gave BU a 29-19 cushion and the Bearcats went on to forge a 42-33 halftime margin. Perovic and redshirt junior guard Yosef Yacob each tallied all nine of his points during the opening frame.

In the second half, BU used a 14-5 run to stretch a seven-point lead to 16 and the big crowd was celebrating. But Loyola started to claim the offensive glass (12 offensive rebs. in second half) and chip away at the deficit. Binghamton still led by six, 76-70, with 1:53 left but the Greyhounds nailed a three-pointer and then scored their final four points of regulation at the free throw line and wiped out a pair of would-be BU buckets with two blocks in the final 1:10.

Sophomore center Thomas Bruce scored a career-high 20 points (9-of-10 FG) and added four rebounds and two blocks. Junior forward Willie Rodriguez notched 17 points (7-of-9) in 25 minutes and senior forward John Rinaldi added six points (3-of-3 FG) and a game-high six assists. 

The Bearcats are off until hosting first-time opponent Delaware State at 2 p.m. next Saturday.