VESTAL, N.Y. - Junior forward Bobby Ahearn scored 21 points and sophomore guard Timmy Rose drilled a go-ahead three-pointer with 20 seconds left to lift Binghamton men's basketball (10-11, 1-5 America East) to a 71-67 win over visiting Stony Brook (10-9, 5-1 AE) Sunday afternoon at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. The BU win snapped a 14-game losing streak to the previously-unbeaten Seawolves and gave Binghamton double-figure wins for the first time in seven years.

The Bearcats trailed 67-65 with 25 seconds left when Ahearn grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and made 1-of-2 at the line. But on the second miss, Ahearn got his own rebound and kicked it out to senior guard John Rinaldi, who quickly rifled a pass to Rose on the left side of the key. The soft-spoken second-year guard swished home the biggest shot of his collegiate career, giving BU a 69-67 lead.

Stony Brook missed a driving layup in traffic with five seconds left but retained possession out of bounds. Binghamton tightly defended the inbounds, however, and a contested corner three was blocked by junior forward Willie Rodriguez with three ticks left. Ahearn made a pair of free throws with one second left to close out the scoring.

The back-and-forth game featured five ties and nine lead changes.

"You win with toughness and I thought we showed great toughness today," head coach Tommy Dempsey said. "We were plus nine on the glass in the second half against a very good rebounding team and I thought that was key. We were desperate for a win ... you have to play that way every night ... and we did it today. Once our guys got comfortable with the speed and athleticism of the game ... the rest of the night I thought we took the fight to them."

Binghamton trailed 17-8 halfway through the first half before heating up. By the time junior guard Yosef Yacob held for the last shot and drove in the lane for a tough floater, BU had come back and forged a 28-26 lead at intermission. A 14-3 run to start the second half gave the Bearcats a 42-29 cushion with 14:58 left. Both teams continued to execute their offense at over 50 percent in the second half. The first-place Seawolves then hit three three-pointers in a 1:23 span to go up five, 62-57, with 3:35 left. 

But Ahearn (7-11 FG, 3-3 3-pt.) hit a jumper off a feed from Rose and then Rodriguez converted a three-point play with 2:38 left that evened the score at 62. Rose and Stony Brook's Bryan Sekunda traded threes to set up the final-minute drama.  

Binghamton remains at home to host Hartford on Wednesday.

NOTES
The Bearcats improved to 6-3 at home with their first conference win of the season... Ahearn hit the 20-point mark for the second time this season. He is shooting 59% from the floor for the season ... With his 15 points, Rodriguez moved his career total to 988 points, leaving him 12 short of joining BU's 1,000-point club. He is aiming to become the first junior to reach it in 15 years (Jeffrey St. Fort in 2001-02) ... Senior guard Marlon Beck added five points to lift his career total to 970... The Bearcats had lost 14 straight games to Stony Brook, dating back to the 2010-11 season. The last win was a 57-50 victory on Jan. 10, 2011 at the Events Center... The Seawolves had won 22 of their last 24 games against America East opponents heading into the contest.