ALBANY, N.Y. – Albany (13-11, 6-3 America East) used an 11-3 second-half run to create distance and fended off Binghamton men's basketball (8-14, 2-7 AE) 62-49 Wednesday night at SEFCU Arena. It was the start of the second half of conference play for both teams.

Freshman forward George Tinsley had 13 points and nine rebounds and senior forward Pierre Sarr added 12 points and nine boards to pace the Bearcats, who trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half before mounting a rally.

Tinsley scored five points in a 1:51 stretch midway through the second half to bring BU to within seven, 41-34, with 10:07 left. But the Great Danes responded with an 11-3 run that spanned four minutes and Binghamton couldn't bring it under double-digits the rest of the way.

Albany hit nine 3-pointers in the first half, built a 25-9 lead and took a 12-point cushion into halftime, 33-21.

"That opening stretch over the first 10 minutes really was crucial to the outcome tonight," head coach Tommy Dempsey said. "Both teams struggled shooting but they got off to that hot start and that was the difference. The second time through the league there isn't a lot of space out there and it's harder to score in the half-court offense. Albany's defense was very good but we just weren't getting the ball in the basket."

The Bearcats were held to just 30 percent shooting and missed nine free throws to compound their offensive struggles.  

Binghamton returns home to host Maine at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
 
NOTES
Sessoms entered the game 29 points shy of the 1,000-point career mark and tallied nine points, so now needs just 20 to get there. He will become just the seventh player in the 41-year America East history to reach the milestone as a sophomore.