VESTAL, N.Y. - With two wins in its last three games, Binghamton men's basketball (10-18, 4-11 America East) has moved into the final playoff spot as the team heads into its regular season finale Saturday afternoon at fourth-place New Hampshire (14-13, 7-7 AE). The teams will tip at 1 p.m. at Lundholm Gymasium in a game broadcast on ESPN3.

The Bearcats hold a half-game lead over Maine (3-11) for the eighth and final playoff spot. Maine hosts UMBC on Saturday and plays at Hartford on Tuesday while BU has the final bye in the schedule. The Black Bears hold the tiebreaker over BU (season sweep), meaning BU has to finish with one more win than Maine to gain the spot and a quarterfinal matchup with top-seeded and regular season champion Vermont.  

Last time out
• On Wednesday in Baltimore, BU pulled out a dramatic 76-74 win over UMBC
• Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms had a game-high 24 points (16 in first half)
• Freshman forward George Tinsley blocked a would-be GW layup with 0:04 left and senior guard Richard Caldwell hit the floor for the rebound, was fouled and made two FT for BU's final points.
• Tinsley and Caldwell had 16 points apiece and senior Pierre Sarr added 11 points and 9 rebounds. Sarr hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 0:30 left
• Team made 14 3-pointers
• Game was tied eight times and had eight lead changes
• Win completed first season sweep of UMBC in five years and allowed BU to climb over Maine into eighth place              

About UNH
• Has similar home-road discrepancy as BU, 9-2 at home and 5-11 on road
• Has won three straight and four of last six to move into tie for fourth place
• Coming off 77-70 win at Maine Wednesday. UNH put four in double figures and made 7-of-8 FT in final minute to hold off host Black Bears (and help Bearcats)
• Junior Sean Sutherlin leads the AE in rebounding (9.0/game) and sophomore forward Nick Guadarrama is fourth in rebounding (7.3) and 14th in scoring (14.9). Guadarrama was sick and didn't play the first UNH-BU game
• Lead the league in rebounding (+6) and rank third in defense (66.1 ppg.)  

 All-time series vs. UNH
• UNH took a 20-19 lead in the tight head-to-head series with a 77-69 win in Vestal five weeks ago (Jan. 25)
• UNH has won 10 of the last 12 but BU swept the season series last year
• In the Jan. 25 game at the Events Center, UNH erased a nine-point second half deficit with 58 percent shooting. Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in the second frame and BU led by eight, 46-38, with 13:59 left. But UNH countered with a 14-3 run to take its first lead since the game's opening bucket and BU couldn't fully rally in the final 10 minutes.
• Binghamton has a 10-9 edge in games played at Lundholm Gym
• The last four games at Lundholm have each been decided by 7 or fewer pts

Sessoms in rare company for points, assists  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms leads the America East in assists (4.9) and is third in points (18.8). Only four other underclassmen across the country rank in the top-3 of each category in their conferences.  

Sessoms named AE Player of Week for second time this season  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms averaged 30.5 points in two games and eaarned his second America East Player of the Week honor on Feb. 24.

Despite exhausting minutes, Tinsley finishing strong freshman season  
Freshman forward George Tinsley has blasted through the typical freshman wall. Despite leading the nation in minutes for most of the season (currently No. 2), Tinsley's production hasn't slowed. He has scored in double figures in nine of his last 10 games and is averaging 14.1 points in that stretch. Tinsley still ranks No. 2 in the AE in rebounding (7.5) and his 11.8 scoring average is No. 1 among conference freshmen, making him a frontrunner for Rookie of the Year accolades.  

Sessoms explodes for 39 points, sets regulation game scoring record  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms pumped in 39 points in the win over UMass Lowell on Thursday. In the process, he broke the single-game (regulation) scoring mark he shared with two other players at 34 points. Sessoms made 13-of-19 shots (9-of-11 in second half) and scored four points in the final 20 seconds to seal the win. Sessoms now has the record for points in a game (40 in OT win over Boston Univ. on Dec. 7, 2019) and regulation game (39). He has scored 30 or more points five times, including twice this season.
   
Sessoms eclipses 1,000 career points in just 57 games  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms scored 22 points on Feb. 12 against Stony Brook to eclipse the 1,000-point scoring mark in his 57th collegiate game. In the process, he became just the seventh player in the league's 41-year history to reach the 1K mark as a sophomore. Sessoms currently ranks second in Div. I era scoring at Binghamton and his career average (18.2 ppg.) puts him in pace to become the program's all-time scoring leader (1,705 pts.) by the end of his junior season. Sessoms is also on pace to surpass the 2,000-point mark, which would make him a 2K scorer in both high school and college.  

Young BU lineup is delivering  
Binghamton is receiving 73% of its offense from underclassmen and its top three scorers are all first or second-year guys.

70 is magic number on offense  
The Bearcats can eye the number 70 on the scoreboard. When BU puts 70 on the board they are 10-4. When the Bearcats score less than 70, they are 0-14.

Bearcats one of youngest teams in nation
Binghamton now is ranked No. 328 in experience (23rd youngest team in nation) by KenPom. The team's most common starting lineup shows two freshmen (Mills, Tinsley), a sophomore (Sessoms) and two seniors (Sarr and Caldwell).

Bearcats riding 3-point scoring, rank fifth in country in long distance reliance  
BU ranks 18th in the country in 3-pointers per game (9.6) and 23rd in made 3-pointers (270). The program record is 275 set last season. They have canned 10 or more 3s 13 times this season, including a season-best 15 against Maine on Feb. 8. In the win at UMBC on Wednesday, BU hit 14-of-33 attempts (42%). The Bearcats rank No. 5 in the country in 3-point reliance (Ken Pom), with 42% of their offense coming via the 3-ball.

Bearacts among the America East, NCAA stat leaders  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms leads the America East in assists (4.9/game) and is third in scoring (18.8). He also ranks second in minutes (35.7), third in free throw percentage (82%), fourth in 3-pointers per game (2.1) and fifth in steals (1.5). Freshman forward George Tinsley ranks second in the nation in minutes (38:20/game). Tin1ley moved up to second in the America East in rebounding (7.5), sixth in blocks (1.2/game) and is the top-scoring freshman in the conference (11.8 ppg.). Senior forward Pierre Sarr is third in the AE in rebounding (7.4).