WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Binghamton men's basketball (8-9, 5-3 America East) dug itself an early hole and couldn't recover in a 72-60 loss to Hartford (4-12, 2-2 AE) Wednesday night at Chase Arena. Forty-eight hours after erasing a 19-point deficit in a home win over the Hawks, BU couldn't rally in this one and lost for just the third time in its last nine games.  

The Bearcats shot just 35 percent and couldn't find any offensive rhythm.

 "It's the same way we started Monday," head coach Levell Sanders said. "When you give teams the ability to jump out on you early … it take so much energy to cut into the lead and we didn't have the energy today. We settled for too many jump shots early on and they weren't going down – you can't win games like that."

Junior forward George Tinsley had team-highs of 15 points and eight rebounds. Classmate Bryce Beamer hit 4-of-4 3-pointers for a season-high 14 points in 12 minutes of work. Sophomore guard John McGriff added 10 points.

Two nights after surrendering a big run to fall behind by double digits in the first half, BU was forced to play from behind again. A 15-2 run gave the Hawks a 20-7 cushion eight minutes into the game. The Bearcats made just 3-of-15 to start the game and shot 29 percent in the opening half, digging themselves a 38-23 hole. They never brought it under 11 points the rest of the way. 

With the win, Hartford improved to 18-5 all-time against the Bearcats at Chase Gym.

Binghamton returns home to host UMBC at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Events Center.