V ESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball looks to notch its fifth home win of the season when the Bearcats (5-15, 1-4 America East) host Maine (3-17, 1-4 AE) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Events Center. The ESPN3 game will also be a BU Coaches vs. Cancer event to raise local funds for cancer programs and services (see note below). 

Coming off a brilliant 32-point performance on Wednesday, freshman guard Sam Sessoms raised his season scoring average to 18.1 points, third-best in the conference and sixth in the country among freshmen. Senior forward Caleb Stewart also had a huge game against UMass Lowell (22 pts., 16 rebs.) and bumped his averages up to 10.4 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds. Stewart is sitting on 976 points - just 24 away from hitting the 1,000-point plateau for his collegiate career.  

QUICK HITS
•    This is Binghamton's 73rd season of basketball, 18th at the Division I level
•    BU was picked to finish 6th (of 9) in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll
•    This is the 18th America East season for BU, which is 106-170 (.384) all-time
•    This is the second of back-to-back home games  

Last time out
•    BU led for 34+ minutes before UMass Lowell rallied to win 85-79 on Wednesday
•    Freshman guard Sam Sessoms tallied a season-high 32 points (22 in first half)
•    Senior forward Caleb Stewart recorded career-highs of 22 points and 16 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double (had DD in second half alone)
•    Senior forward Chancellor Barnard added a career-high seven blocks — all in the second half     

About Maine
•    Black Bears are coming off the bye and haven't played since losing to Stony Brook 64-61 last Saturday
•    In that game, Maine led by 18 point early in second half before the league-leading Seawolves rallied as Maine only made eight field goals in the final 20 minutes
•    Freshman guard Terion Moss scored a game-high 23 points (6-of-12 3-pt.)
•    Maine's only D-1 victories have come against Fordham and Albany (66-62)
•    Team returned three starters and eight letterwinners from a 6-26 team (3-13 AE) and was picked to finish tied for seventh (one spot behind BU) in the preseason poll
•    Head coach Richard Barron guided the Maine women's program for six successful seasons before taking over the men's program this season

All-time series vs. Maine
•    Maine leads the series, 19-17, on the strength of five wins in last seven games
•    Maine swept the series last year and before that, the teams split the season series in each of the last five years with the home team winning six of the 10 games
•    The Bearcats are 12-6 all-time at home against Maine
•    Last year Maine won 76-73 here and 81-79 (ot) in Bangor one month later
•    The last three games have been decided by a combined six points
•    Last Feb. 3, host Maine shot 51% and made 7-of-8 free throws in overtime 

Bearcats lead America East, rank seventh in nation in blocks
Despite opening the season without the top shot blocker in the America East (Thomas Bruce), BU has racked up 109 blocks through 20 games, tops in the AE and seventh-most in the country. In blocks per game, BU led the country for a week and currently ranks 11th (5.5/game). Individually, senior forward Caleb Stewart swatted a career-high five vs. Columbia and has 39 blocks, which ranks third in the conference and 38th in the country. His 1.95 average is 47th. Senior forward Chancellor Barnard is coming off a career-high seven-block showing (all in second half) against UMass Lowell and has 35 blocks (4th in AE). 

Stewart puts up big numbers against UMass Lowell, closing in on 1K
Senior forward Caleb Stewart poured in career-highs of 22 points and 16 rebounds against UMass Lowell on Jan. 23 to earn his first career double-double. In the process, he raised his collegiate points total to 976. Stewart tallied a double-double just in the second half alone, with 13 points and 11 boards. His 16 rebs. is the highest of any AE player this season. After single seasons at South Carolina-Aiken and Saint Leo, Stewart is finishing his last two at Binghamton. 

Sessoms goes off in first half against UMass Lowell, flirts with record
Freshman guard Sam Sessoms hit 8-of-10 shots (4-of-5 3-pt.) in the first half against UMass Lowell on Jan. 23 and wound up with 22 points in 15 minutes of action. He added 10 more in the second half to wind up with 32 points, two shy of tying the school single-game record. His total is the sixth-most by an AE player this season and the highest BU total since teammate J.C. Show went for a school-record-tying 34 points vs. Central Connecticut State on Nov. 11, 2016. His eight first-half field goals were the third-most in a half in program history.

Sessoms up to sixth in nation in freshman scoring
Freshman guard Sam Sessoms ranks third in the conference in scoring (18.1 ppg.) and has moved up to sixth in the entire nation in freshman scoring. He has scored in double figures in 18 of his first 20 collegiate games, including seven 20+ games. Sessoms also ranks 34th in the country in made field goals.  

Barnard is beast on block
Senior forward Chancellor Barnard has maximized his relatively small 6-foot-4 frame in the low post. Barnard is coming off a seven-block showing against UMass Lowell on Jan. 23 and ranks fourth in the America East in blocks and eighth in rebouunds (6.5). He ranks 10th in the country in rebounds among players 6-foot-4 or shorter. His highlight glass games were against Columbia (1/2) and UNH (1/5), when he had back-to-back 11-rebound performances. 

SPECIAL NOTE
Binghamton head coach Tommy Dempsey will pledge $5 for every point the Bearcats score on Saturday and the two coaching staffs will wear sneakers to commemorate the fundraising event. The American Cancer Society is celebrating the 26th year of the Coaches vs. Cancer program. The games raise funds to help support American Cancer Society efforts to help people stay well, get well, find cures and fight back. In addition to supporting lifesaving American Cancer Society research, education and advocacy, the money raised will be used to support patient service programs in Broome and surrounding counties through the local Johnson City office. Programs such as Road to Recovery, which provides free round-trip transportation for cancer patients to doctor visits and treatments, and Reach to Recovery, which helps breast cancer patients cope with their diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, will benefit from the Coaches vs. Cancer games.