VESTAL, N.Y. - Visiting Vermont (4-3, 4-3 America East) built a 14-point halftime lead and shot 52 percent in the second half to defeat Binghamton men's basketball (1-9, 1-6 AE) 76-60 Saturday afternoon at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. 

Sophomore guard Brenton Mills led the Bearcats with 16 points and classmates Bryce Beamer and Tyler Bertram added 14 and 13 points apiece, but the Catamounts countered with a plus 15 margin on the glass and received game-highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds from Ryan Davis. Vermont led 15-4 to start the game and kept the lead throughout.

"You have to give Vermont credit ... they played really well, especially in the first half," head coach Tommy Dempsey said. "They played close to a perfect half. I thought we showed a lot of fight in the second half, forced some turnovers and tried to get ourselves back in the game. We played much better in second half but a 14-point hole against a team that good is too much a deficit to overcome." 

Down 61-40 with 12:21 to play, BU went on a 13-2 run to cut its deficit to 10, 63-53, with 7:28 left. Mills had five points in the run and Bertram added four. But facing the prospect of a single-digit game, Vermont rattled off the next seven points to restore a comfortable margin.

The Bearcats forced nine Catamount turnovers in the second half and were only outscored by two (32-30). But after shooting 52 percent in the opening period, BU's accuracy dipped to 38 percent in the second half. 

In his third start of the season, junior center Ogheneyole Akuwovo added 10 points in 22 minutes of action. Bertram added a career-high six assists in 36 minutes. 

The teams finish off the weekend series at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Events Center.