VESTAL, N.Y. - After orchestrating one of the biggest wins in the last decade, Binghamton men's basketball will turn its attention to regular season champion and top-seeded Vermont when the Bearcats (10-22) and Catamounts (25-6) meet in the America East semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Patrick Gym. 

The Bearcats have won four straight road games and are brimming with confidence after stunning No. 2 Stony Brook 78-72 in the quarterfinals on Saturday. In the 36-year history of the seeded tournament, no team has knocked off the top two seeds in succession in the quarterfinals and semifinals and no No. 7 seed has ever advanced to the championship game, giving Binghamton plenty of history to strive for. 

Freshman guard Sam Sessoms, newly minted as the league's Rookie of the Year, tallied 26 points to pace the Bearcats over Stony Brook. He raised his season average to 18.4 points - the fifth-highest freshman scoring mark in the nation. Seniors J.C. Show (19 pts.) and Caleb Stewart (16 pts.) were key contributors in the upset victory. Stewart iced it with a huge defensive play with 0:32 left and BU clinging to a four-point lead. A Seawolves guard converted a layup after contact and it was a potential three-point play that was ultimately reviewed and changed from the blocking foul to an offensive charge. 

Vermont is led by Player of the Year Anthony Lamb (21.2 ppg.).   

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
• BU finished seventh and returned to postseason after missing out last year
• BU is making its first appearance in the AE semifinals in 10 years (2009)     

Last time out
• BU built an 18-point halftime lead and fought off No. 2 Stony Brook in the closing minutes for a 78-72 upset win in the quarterfinals Saturday on Long Island
• Freshman guard Sam Sessoms scored 26 points and senior guard J.C. Show tallied 11 of his 19 points in the second half as BU hung on after seeing a 24-point cushion dwindle to three in the final minute
• Senior forward Caleb Stewart added 16 points - 14 in the first half
• The win snapped a six-game postseason losing streak and was just the third win in 34 all-time games (3-31) for the No. 7 seed over the No. 2 seed in the tourney       

About Vermont
• UVM is coming off a comfortable 73-57 win over No. 8 Maine in the quarters
• UVM is outscoring AE opponents by an average of more than 13 points
• Junior standout Anthony Lamb (21.2 ppg.) was named AE Player of Year
• Team features trio of Duncan brothers (Ernie, Everett, Robin)  
• Catamounts are 41-5 at home in the last three years and have won three straight AE regular season titles and four of the last six
• Catamounts have won 20 or more games for a remarkable 11 straight years
 
All-time series vs. Vermont
• Vermont owns lopsided 32-8 lead in all-time series and is 16-2 at Patrick Gym
• Catamounts have won eight straight and 13 of last 14 in series
• Last eight matchups at Patrick have yielded Vermont wins by average of 24 pts
• UVM swept the season series, winning 78-50 in Burlington on Jan. 19 and 69-63 in Vestal on Feb. 23
• BU's last win in Burlington was epic. On Feb. 4, 2009, BU's NCAA team rallied from 25 points down in the second half to win 85-83 at Patrick Gym. It's the eighth-greatest road comeback in NCAA history.

Bearcats sting No. 2 Stony Brook on road in quarterfinals
Binghamton is back in the America East semifinals for the first time in 10 years after stunning No. 2 Stony Brook 78-72 in Saturday night's quarterfinals. The No. 7 seed was just 2-31 all-time vs. the No. 2 seed entering this tournament and BU had lost six straight playoff games (four to Stony Brook), making the road win quite improbable against a 24-win Seawolves team. Binghamton's last tourney win had been a first-round (#8 vs #9) win over UMBC in the 2012 tourney. 

Binghamton back in semifinals for first time in 10 years
The last time BU advanced to the semifinals was during its championship run in 2009. The team also reached the semifinals in 2005 and 2006. Binghamton meets Vermont in the postseason for the first time in eight years. The Bearcats' postseason record against Vermont is 0-4. The Catamounts eliminated BU in the semifinals in 2005 and 2006 and also posted quarterfinal wins in 2008 and 2011. 

Binghamton has chance to make history in America East tourney
The Bearcats have an opportunity to become the lowest seeded team to reach the AE title game and also the first team in the 36-year history of a seeded AE tourney to beat the top two seeds in their first two games. The only team to knock off the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds was Albany in 2014 (as the No. 4 seed). The Great Danes beat No. 1 Vermont in the semifinals and No. 2 Stony Brook in the championship. But no team has done it in the quarters-semis and no team has done it on the road.  

Sessoms named Rookie of Year, third team all-conference
Freshman guard Sam Sessoms was named the America East Rookie of the Year and a third team all-conference selection. He ranks third in the conference in scoring (18.4 ppg.), fifth in assists (3.5 apg.), seventh in 3-point shooting (2.2/game and 37%) and 10th in field goal percentage (.453). He has 13 20+ point games this season (2nd most in BU history) and ranks 27th in the country in made field goals. He already has established BU freshman records for points, assists, steals and 3-pointers in a season. Sessoms becomes BU's second AE Rookie of the Year (Dylan Talley in 2009-10) and its first all-conference selection since Willie Rodriguez earned third team honors in 2015-16.

Show named to All-Academic Team for second straight year
Senior guard J.C. Show earned a spot on the America East Basketball All-Academic Team for the second straight year. A graduate student in BU's public administration master's program, Show has a 3.80 GPA after achieving a 3.87 mark as an undergraduate student. 

Sessoms still fifth in nation in freshman scoring, sets records
Freshman guard Sam Sessoms is fifth in the entire nation in freshman scoring and fourth in the nation among players 6-feet or shorter. In his first collegiate postseason game Saturday at Stony Brook, Sessoms poured in 26 points and tied a school postseason record with 11 field goals. It was the seventh time this season he has scored 25 or more points.     

Show drains school-record 10 3-pointers, continues torrid streak
In his last seven games senior guard J.C. Show is averaging 18.6 points on 55% shooting. Show had another memorable performance in his storied collegiate career March 2 at Maine. He poured in a school-record 10 3-pointers (10-for-14) and 30 points to key BU's 83-60 win. Only four players around the country have gone for more "threes" in a game this season. It was his 13th 20+ point game and second 30+ game in 2+ years at Binghamton. He went 7-for-7 from 3-point range in the second half to break the record for 3s in a game (8) he previously shared with teammate Sam Sessoms and two others. In his last six games, Show is averaging 18.5 points. Show has 956 points in a BU uniform, which ranks fifth all-time. He has 1,192 total collegiate points (236 for Bucknell as freshman).  

Stewart makes game-saving defensive play, is hitting on all cylinders
Senior forward Caleb Stewart is averaging 17.7 points in his last four games, including 16 in the quarterfinal win at Stony Brook. Stewart also drew a huge charge with 0:32 left that erased a potential Seawolves 3-point play with BU clinging to a four-point lead. The play was initially called a basket but was reviewed and reversed as Stewart was planted and absorbed the contact above the restricted zone. Stewart ranks fifth in the league in rebounds (7.1) and third in blocks (1.7). On March 2 at Maine, Stewart notched his fourth double-double of the season with 23 points and 10 rebounds. 

BU records program-record 19 3-pointers, wins third straight road game
The Bearcats broke an eight-year-old school record with 19 3-pointers the win at Maine on March 2. The previous record was 17, set in a first-round tourney win over UMBC on March 3, 2011 (at Hartford). At Maine, BU made eight treys in the first half and 11 in the second half. Five different players converted, led by senior guard J.C. Show, who set a BU record with 10. Senior forward Caleb Stewart made four and freshman guard Sam Sessoms added three.

Sessoms' record-tying performance not enough to beat Hartford
Freshman guard Sam Sessoms exploded for 34 points (8-of-15 3-pt. FG), including 24 in the second half, in the 96-76 loss to Hartford on Wednesday. Sessoms tied school records for points in a game and 3-pointers in a game — both of which are held by teammate J.C. Show. His 24 points in a half are second-most in program history (Dusan Perovic scored 29 points in the second half en route to 34 points at Boston Univ. on Dec. 3, 2014). Sessoms has two of the top eight scoring performances in the America East this season, having also netted 32 points against UMass Lowell on Jan. 23.

Sessoms claims seventh Rookie of Week honor in final week
Freshman guard Sam Sessoms was named America East Rookie of the Week seven times this season (Nov. 12, Nov. 26, Dec. 10, Dec. 24, Jan. 7, Feb. 11, March 4). Only two America East players in the league's 40-year history have received more rookie honors. In BU's 18-year membership in the AE, only one freshman has held down a higher scoring average (Albany's Jamar Wilson, 18.9 ppg. in 2002-03).    

Bearcats lead America East, rank 21st in nation in blocks
Despite opening the season without the top shot blocker in the America East (Thomas Bruce), BU has racked up 145 blocks through 30 games, tops in the AE and 21st-most in the country. In blocks per game, BU led the country for a week and currently ranks 29th (4.6/game). Individually, senior forward Caleb Stewart has 55 blocks, which ranks third in the conference and 57th in the country. His 1.72 average is 74th. Senior forward Chancellor Barnard has 45 blocks (4th in AE). 

10-year anniversary of program's first NCAA berth 
The 2018-19 season marks the 10-year anniversary of the program's first NCAA tournament berth. That 2008-09 team went 23-9 (13-3 in America East) and captured the America East regular season and tournament titles. The Bearcats then received a No. 15 seed and faced No. 2 seed Duke in an opening round game in front of 20,001 at the Greensboro Coliseum on March 19, 2009. In a game shown to a national audience in primetime on CBS, Duke stretched an 11-point halftime lead and prevailed 86-62. The Bearcats shot 53 percent to Duke's 49 percent but were whistled for 21 fouls, including six in the game's first three minutes. The ACC champion Blue Devils went on to reach the Sweet 16.