ALBANY, N.Y. – Binghamton (12-15) concluded its 2017 season with a straight-set loss to Stony Brook (18-12) in the America East championship match on Saturday afternoon at Albany's University Gym. The scores were 25-20, 25-18, 25-19.

The Bearcats were making their fifth appearance in the America East finals and were seeking their first championship since 2012. Including five years ago, Binghamton has won three conference crowns, with the other two coming in 2005 and 2009.

Gaby Alicea, the America East Player of the Year, led the Bearcats with 10 kills while senior setter Sarah Ngo, the conference's Setter of the Year, dished out 26 assists and recorded 18 digs.

Collectively, however, the Bearcats struggled in hitting, registering just an .078 attack percentage compared to Stony Brook's mark of .264. In addition, the Seawolves held an 11.0-2.0 advantage in blocks.

Stony Brook raced out to a 13-7 lead in the first set but the Bearcats clawed back to within 19-18. From there, however, the Seawolves closed out the set on a 6-2 run with four of those points coming off kills.

With the score tied at 6-6 in the second set, Stony Brook went on a 7-1 run to again go up by a 13-7 score. Binghamton got as close as 17-14 but the Seawolves scored seven of the set's final 10 points.

Nursing a 10-9 lead in the third set, Stony Brook once again got the separation it needed, going on a 7-3 run to take a 17-12 advantage. From there, the Seawolves maintained at least four-point cushion for the rest of the set.

Alicea and Ngo were named to the America East All-Tournament Team. It's the second straight year Alicia has been chosen while Ngo has now been named twice in three years (with the other instance coming in 2015). Ngo was also honored with the America East Elite 18 Award for having the highest cumulative GPA of any participants in the championship match.

McKyla Brooks of Stony Brook, who was named the America East Tournament's Most Outstanding Performer, finished with a match-high 14 kills.

This marks the second time Binghamton and Stony Brook have squared off in the America East finals. The Bearcats won 3-1 back in 2005.

Despite the setback, Binghamton closed out the regular season with five straight conference wins to grab the No. 2 seed entering the America East Tournament. In addition, the Bearcats advanced to the conference finals for the first time in five years.

Alicea is the first Bearcat ever to be named the conference's Player of the Year while Ngo is Binghamton's first setter of the year since Amanda Dettman was chosen in 2012.