VESTAL, N.Y. – Binghamton men's basketball (8-8, 5-2 America East) stormed back from 19 points down to defeat visiting Hartford (3-12, 1-2 AE) 74-64 Monday night at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center.

Fueled by Jacob Falko (22 pts.) and Christian Hinckson (20 pts.), the Bearcats used a stunning 25-1 second-half run to blunt the defending conference champions and earn the team's fifth America East win – equaling the most the program has won in any of the last 12 years – with 11 more games still to play.

Binghamton trailed 47-36 early in the second period before ramping up the defense and holding the Hawks scoreless for more than seven minutes and keeping them without a field goal for more than eight minutes. The ensuing big run featured 10 points from Hinckson, eight from Falko and four from John McGriff, who joined the pair in double figures with 11 points – his fourth straight double-digit output.

 "We started to play defense toward the end of the first half and it got us going," head coach Levell Sanders said. "We challenged the guys and they started getting stops and that helped generate our offense by getting out and playing faster. It's a game of two halves and we turned it around as a team. We tell them we need to do this together and once again, the guys who played tonight all contributed. We played hard and with intensity."

After allowing 40 points in the first half, BU put the clamps on a talented Hartford lineup and limited them to 24 points on less than 30% shooting over the final 20 minutes.

Falko and Hinckson, meanwhile, delivered at both ends. Falko hit 9-of-20 from the floor and scored 16 of his game-high 22 in the pivotal second half. He added six rebounds and a team-high five assists. Falko leads all America East players in conference-game scoring (19.4 ppg.). Hinckson, meanwhile, narrowly missed his third straight double-double with nine rebounds to go with his career-high 20 points. He leads the conference with a 9.1 rebound average. 

Juniors George Tinsley (season-high 11 rebounds) and Dan Petcash (7 rebs., 5 pts.) helped BU enjoy a plus 17 mark on the glass.  

The victory, BU's sixth in its last eight games, snapped a 10-game losing skid to the Hawks and allowed Binghamton to reach the .500 mark overall (8-8) this deep into the season for the first time in 13 years.

Hartford jumped out of the gate quickly, scoring the game's first seven points and hitting 5-of-6 to start and 50% for the first half. The Bearcats trailed 18-13 midway through the period before the Hawks embarked on a 20-6 run that spanned 6:38. But BU rallied behind Hinckson in the final four minutes. He converted a 3-point play and then cashed in a 3-pointer – all in a 21-second span. That six-point outburst sparked a 12-2 Bearcats run to end the half and it brought BU back to within single digits, down 40-31.

The two teams now head to West Hartford and play again Wednesday night at Chase Arena.