VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball will open its 20th season of Division I America East play this weekend when the Bearcats (0-3) host longtime SUNY rival Stony Brook (2-4) at the Events Center. The teams will play games on Saturday and Sunday - both at 2 p.m. and both broadcast on ESPN3. 

The Bearcats are averaging 63 points on offense and are plus-3 on the glass early on. Sophomore guard Brenton Mills leads the team and ranks second in the conference with an 18.0 scoring average. Mills is shooting 50% from the floor, including a league-leading 47% (8-of-17) from 3-point range. Classmate George Tinsley is averaging 8.0 points and 8.0 rebounds and senior center Thomas Bruce is chipping in 9.7 points and 6.0 rebounds. Bruce has seven blocks - second-most in the America East. 
 
Quick Hits
•    This is Binghamton's 74th season of basketball, 20th at the Division I level
•    BU returns two starters and seven lettermen from a 10-19 team of a year ago
•    BU is 6-13 all-time in America East openers and has split its last two, beating UNH two years ago and losing to Albany last season
•    BU is 115-193 in 19 years of America East play (.373)   

About Stony Brook
•    Coming off 83-39 dismissal of NAIA member Point Park on Tuesday. Other win was a 72-69 OT win over Fairfield on Dec. 4. The Seawolves have played twice as many games as BU
•    Program was severely bit by the transfer bug, losing all five starters from a 20-13 team that finished regular season runnerup (10-6) and lost in the tournament semifinals 
•    Because of the losses, Seawolves were picked fifth in the preseason poll
•    Have retooled with eight newcomers (four with D-I experience) and four JUCOs
•    Marquee newcomers are Dayton transfer Frankie Policelli (12.0 ppg.) and JUCO All-American point guard Juan Felix Rodriguez (12.0 ppg., 3.6 apg.)
•    Return top AE shot blocker from last season, Mouhamadou Gueye (64)
•    Program has produced a 20-win season seven times in last nine years     
   
 All-time series vs. Stony Brook
•    Stony Brook leads the all-time series 44-30 but since both teams elevated to Division I, the Seawolves' margin is much slimmer (Stony leads 25-19)
•    The rivalry as D-I programs consists of three distinct time periods: early years (BU won 15 of 20 between 2001-2011), middle years (Stony won 14 straight in a six-year span from 2011-16) and most recent (BU has won two of last three and is 4-6 in last 10 head-to-head)
•    In Vestal, BU holds a 19-18 margin
•    The teams split the season series last year with BU winning 83-79 on Long Island and Stony returning the favor in Vestal 3 weeks later, 75-70
•    The road team has won each of the last four games
•    The last three games have been decided by six or fewer points
•    Still vivid is BU's stunning 78-72 road win over a 24-win and No. 2 seed Stony Brook in the 2019 America East quarterfinals

Last Time Out
Binghamton hosted Horizon League power Youngstown State on Dec. 13 and lost 79-65. Despite leading by as many as 15 points and holding the lead for more than 26 minutes, BU could not hold off the hard-charging Penquins, who shot 55% in the second half and used a 27-7 run to rally. Brenton Mills led three Bearcats in double figures with 15 points, before exiting the game with five minutes left after absorbing a hard foul. BU trailed by six at the time and was outscored 15-7 the rest of the way. 

Bearcats had dry run of playing same opponent on back-to-back days  
The Bearcats opened their season with a home-and-home, weekend series against MAAC member Marist on Dec. 5-6. Both games were decided in the final minute. Binghamton rallied from six points down in the final 3:43 of Saturday's opener, forcing overtime with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. The Bearcats then had a shot to win the game in the closing seconds of OT, but a missed 3-pointer and subsequent free throws led to a 68-65 loss. One day later, BU nearly rallied from 11 points down in the final 3:27, and had a shot to take the lead with 13 seconds left before free throws closed out a 64-60 loss. 

Hinckson eligible, will make his Bearcat debut this weekend 
Junior forward Christian Hinckson benefited from the NCAA blanket waiver announcement on Dec. 16 and will be in uniform this weekend. Hinckson played his first two seasons at Manhattan College, starting 42 games in two years with the Jaspers. He averaged 7.2 points and 5.5 rebounds last season, playing more than 29 minutes per game. He ranked fourth in the MAAC in steals (1.5/game). With Stony Brook in town, Hinckson will renew acquaintances with former teammate Tykei Greene, who also was a Manhattan starter before transferring to Stony Brook.  

Mills off to quick start in scoring column 
Sophomore guard Brenton Mills went for 20 and 19 points in his first two games and ranks second in the America East in scoring (18.0 ppg.). Mills is shooting 50% from the field (5th in AE) and has hit a league-best 47% from 3-point range.

Bruce opens with weekend block party  
Senior center Thomas Bruce celebrated his return to the floor after 1,013 days away by recording six blocks in the opening two games. The 6-foot-9 post player ranked first in the America East in blocks (3.0) and 10th in the NCAA. 

Bertram makes splash in Bearcat debut  
Sophomore guard Tyler Bertram returned to Upstate NY (transfer from UNC Charlotte) and made his presence felt in his first game on the Events Center floor. The former Cooperstown High standout (1,897 pts. in 3 years) grabbed an over-the-top inbounds pass on the wing in the Dec. 5 opener against Marist and swished in a game-tying 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer. Bertram contributed six points and five rebounds in 25 minutes of work in his BU debut.

Petcash hauls in career-high 11 boards  
Sophomore wing Dan Petcash set a career-high with 11 rebounds in the Dec. 6 road game at Marist. Petcash, whose contributions often aren't visible on the stat sheet, pulled down 10 defensive boards and added four points and two assists in 29 minutes as a starter. His previous high rebound mark was nine vs. Hartwick last December. 

Latest start to season in 62 years  
With COVID dramatically affecting the start of the 2020-21 season, BU will now be opening its campaign on the latest date since the 1958-59 season, when Hall of Fame coach Frank Pollard and his Harpur College squad opened against Hobart on Dec. 5. The latest season-opener on record was a Dec. 9 home game against Wilkes to kick-off the 1952-53 season for coach John Natale and his Harpur team.

Sessoms departs for Penn State, Big Ten basketball  
Two-year guard Sam Sessoms, who accumulated 1,151 points (18.6/game) in two standout seasons at Binghmton transferred to Penn State in the off-season. Sessoms was a two-time all-conference selection, the 2019 America East Rookie of the Year and leaves as the program's No. 2 all-time scorer during its Division I era.  

2020-21 America East schedule features nine weekend series'
Binghamton's conference schedule will remain an 18-game set but due to COVID, will consist of double round-robin games at same sites to reduce travel. All 10 teams – including newcomer NJIT – will play nine weekend series' consisting of back-to-back games at the same site. The Bearcats will play five series' at home and four on the road. 

Season Preview
•    BU must replace two-time all-star Sam Sessoms (1,151 pts.), three starters, 55% of its scoring and 48% of its rebounding from last season
•    Team will lean heavily on its sophomore class of eight, including returning America East Rookie of the Year George Tinsley and fellow All-Rookie Team member Brenton Mills (BU was only AE team with two players on the All-Rookie Team)
•    Tinsley (11.6 ppg.) and Mills (9.7 ppg.) are team's top two returning scorers
•    Senior center Thomas Bruce (708 career points, 535 rebounds, 117 blocks) returns after missing last two seasons with an injury. Bruce is a two-time America East All-Defensive Team selection and averaged 11.1 points and 8.8 rebounds (second in AE) in his last season (2017-18)
•    Key newcomers include Wisc.-Green Bay graduate transfer Hunter Crist (89 NCAA games) and UNC-Charlotte transfer Tyler Bertram (1,897 pts. in three high school seasons at nearby Cooperstown HS). Manhattan College transfer Christian Hinckson (42 starts in 2 seasons) benefited from the NCAA's blanket waiver on Dec. 16 and is now eligible.

2019-20 Highlights
• Broke school-record for 3-pointers with league-leading 278
• Three-pointers per game (9.6) ranked 20th in nation
• Had top scorer in America East and produced the best freshman in the conference for second straight year
• Had two of AE's top four rebounders and two of top seven 3-point shooters
• Freshman forward George Tinsley finished second in nation in minutes (38:23) and was the only freshman among the top-70
• Led America East in FT percentage (72%) - program's best in 12 years
• Posted highest scoring average in 11 years (69.4 ppg.) - third-highest in AE