VESTAL, N.Y. - Visiting UMass Lowell (5-8, 4-5 AE) shot 63 percent and held off Binghamton (1-11, 1-8 AE) in the second half, 92-78 in an America East men's basketball game Saturday afternoon from Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. 

The Bearcats put five in double figures and hit their season-high in points but trailed throughout. Down 68-48 with 11:41 left, BU used a 21-8 run to pull within six, 76-70, with 6:46 to play. Six different players scored during the run, led by sophomore guard Dan Petcash (5 pts.). But UML countered with buckets on back-to-back possessions and the Bearcats could draw no closer.

Sophomore guard Tyler Bertram scored a career-high 20 points (12 in second half) and classmate Brenton Mills added 15 points in a foul-limited 29 minutes. Sophomore forwards Bryce Beamer (13 pts.) and George Tinsley (12 pts.) and sophomore guard Hakon Hjalmarsson (11 pts.) rounded out the twin-digit scorers.

"We just weren't good enough defensively today to give ourselves a chance to win," head coach Tommy Dempsey said. "We found some good flow on the offensive side and had some really good offensive spurts but the defense wasn't able to consistently hold up and we were chasing them from behind most of the day."

The River Hawks opened the game with a 15-4 run and shot an efficient 67 percent in the first half to stake themselves to a 47-37 lead. Mills scored 10 points in the first half but BU was doubled up on the glass (20-10) and trailed by as many as 14 points before bringing it back to 10. Early in the second half, a Mills 3-pointer and Bertram jumper pulled the Bearcats to within five, 49-44. But UML stretched its margin to as many as 19 points before BU made its final push. A Hjalmarsson driving layup with 3:26 remaining brought BU to within seven, 82-75. But the River Hawks turned a Binghamton midcourt turnover into a 3-pointer and then UML made 4-of-4 free throws in the final 1:18 to ice it.

The teams close out the weekend series at noon on Sunday.