VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball (1-1) begins a nine-day, four-game road trip with a Thursday matchup at Atlantic 10 member George Mason (1-1). The teams tip at 7 p.m. at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Va. The game is the first of two mainland games as part of the Cancun Challenge.

The Bearcats are coming off a 94-84 loss at Cornell on Monday. In that game, Junior center Thomas Bruce scored a career-high 28 points with 11 rebounds but Binghamton's second-half comeback came up short. The Bearcats trimmed a 22-point second-half deficit to just two with 13:45 left but ran out of steam and time against the host Big Red, who benefited from 30-of-34 free throw accuracy.

Bruce hit 12-of-16 shots and netted 16 of his points in the second half when BU staged a furious rally. Sophomore guard Fard Muhammad added a career-high 18 points (12 in second), junior guard J.C. Show had 12 points (10 in second) and junior guard Timmy Rose chipped in 11 points and six assists. Bruce has two straight double-doubles to start the season and he's averaging team-highs of 21.0 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. 

George Mason, still known for its memorable run to the 2006 NCAA Final Four, has split its first two games. The Patriots opened with a 67-65 win over Lafayette and then pushed No. 16 Louisville to the closing minutes in a 72-61 road loss on Sunday. They led by six with 12 minutes to play and were only down four to the Cardinals with 2:07 remaining. 

The Patriots return three starters and four letterwinners from a 20-win team of last season. Junior guard Jaire Grayer leads the team in scoring (18.5) and rebounding (9.5). Junior guard Otis Livingston II (882 career points) was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Team (third team) and GMU was picked to finish 10th in the 14-team A-10. 

This is the first meeting between the two programs. 

After Thursday's game, BU travels to Evansville, Ind. for a Saturday afternoon tilt on ESPN3.