VESTAL, N.Y. - Visiting UMBC (15-7, 6-3 America East) finished the first half with a 16-6 run and then shot 64 percent in the second half to pull away from Binghamton men's basketball (12-12, 3-6 AE), 92-74, Wednesday night at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center.
The Retrievers made 12 three-pointers and tallied 20 assists on 32 baskets in a stellar offensive performance. The Bearcats shot 51 percent themselves but couldn't keep pace with the highest-scoring team in the America East.
"It was more about UMBC and how well they played tonight," head coach
Tommy Dempsey said. "They moved the ball at a great pace and clicked on all cylinders. Our kids played hard but UMBC really had it going tonight."
Senior guard
Marlon Beck provided a highlight late in the game when he turned a steal and layup into his 1,000th career point. Beck joins teammate
Willie Rodriguez, who reached the milestone Sunday at Maine. Beck stole the ball at midcourt and drove in for the uncontested layup with 1:05 left. He is already the school's all-time three-point leader (202) and now can add 1,000-point scorer to his resume.
The game was tied four times and featured 10 lead changes in the first half before a late surge gave UMBC a 49-37 halftime lead. The Retrievers were aided by nine three-pointers in the first period.
The visitors then opened the second half with a 21-10 run to put it away.
Rodriguez scored a team-high 19 points, 10 in the first half, to pace Binghamton. He hit 6-of-9 and added seven boards. Junior forward
Bobby Ahearn had 15 points (6-of-9 FG) and six rebounds and Beck wound up with 11 points.
The Bearcats now hit the road for a two-game trip to Massachusetts and Vermont, beginning with a Saturday afternoon matchup with UMass Lowell.
NOTES
The game drew 4,939 fans at the Events Center - the highest attendance figure in eight years (spanning 104 home games). The most recent high was 5,342 who were on hand for the 2009 America East championship game against UMBC on March 14, 2009... The student attendance tonight was 1,582, which is the highest in school history, breaking the mark of 1,448 established in that same 2009 conference championship game.
