NEWARK, N.J. - Coming off a 19-day COVID layoff, Binghamton men's basketball roared out to a 20-7 lead and showed no signs of rust in a lopsided 76-63 road win over NJIT (7-10, 6-9 America East) Saturday afternoon at the Wellness and Events Center. 

The Bearcats (3-13, 3-10 AE) made 13 of their first 17 shots and led 33-15 11 minutes into the game. Sophomore guard Tyler Bertram (team-high 16 pts.) scored 11 of his points in that opening stretch and BU's mix of defenses kept the Highlanders off guard the entire afternoon. Binghamton kept NJIT under 30% shooting for most of the game, forced 12 turnovers and four shot clock violations. 

Down 18 in the first half, NJIT cut it to a 10-point deficit at half, 40-30. But BU opened the second half by scoring seven straight points and the visitors led by 13 or more the rest of the way. The Bearcats have won two of their last three games. 

"It was a really good team effort today," head coach Tommy Dempsey said. "Being that it was our first game after a long layoff, I was really happy to get the win. Our kids are continuing to fight and play hard. We have to come with an edge tomorrow though. It's hard to sweep a team."

Binghamton shot 57 percent and hit 11-of-24 3-pointers. 

In addition to Bertram (4-of-7 3-pt.), who eclipsed 15 points for the fifth time this season, classmate Dan Petcash hit 5-of-7 for 14 points. Sophomore forward Bryce Beamer added 12 points and the Bearcats put 10 players in the scoring column. The offensive performance was all the more impressive given BU played without its leading scorer, sophomore guard Brenton Mills (14.6 ppg.).   

The teams finish out the weekend series with a 3 p.m. tip on Sunday.