PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – La Salle (3-3) closed the game with an 11-4 run to overtake visiting Binghamton men's basketball (3-3) 65-62 Saturday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena.

The Bearcats played a superb second half and had their Atlantic-10 member hosts on the ropes with a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds. But with BU pushing the floor in the final 10 seconds, La Salle collapsed to the 3-point line and forced a heavily-contested offline shot at the buzzer.  

Binghamton used a 22-9 run to forge ahead 58-54 with 5:02 remaining. The Bearcats then took their final lead, 61-60, on a three-point play from senior guard Jacob Falko with 1:38 remaining. But the Explorers reclaimed the lead with 1:19 left and then corralled a key offensive rebound with 35 seconds left. That board led to a driving layup with 0:19 left that pushed the margin to three, 64-61. The teams then traded free throw makes before BU had the ball after a timeout for its game-tying attempt.

Falko led all scorers with 20 points (8-of-16 FG) – his second-straight 20+ point showing. He had 12 in the second half as BU outscored La Salle 35-29. Binghamton's defense limited the Explorers to just nine second-half field goals (32%).

"We wanted to make them beat us from the outside but there were too many breakdowns," head coach Levell Sanders said. "I'm happy that we kept fighting and didn't cave in. We came back and took the lead and it was back and forth at the end. But it was just a matter of executing plays down the stretch. Tariq (Balogun) did a great job in the second half and there were definitely some positives. But when you are this close to getting the 'w' it's hard to swallow."

Down nine at half, BU opened the second half with a 7-2 run to pull within four, 38-34. Midway through the half, La Salle reclaimed a nine-point cushion (45-36) before Falko keyed the big run with seven points in a 2:41 span. Junior center Tariq Balogun scored 13 (including eight pts. in a row) during the nine-minute stretch.  

Balogun netted 16 points – one off his career-high - and graduate Christian Hinckson added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Binghamton began the afternoon by scoring six of the game's first eight points and forcing a La Salle timeout less than two minutes into the contest. Falko and Hinckson had eight points and four boards apiece for the half to pace the Bearcats. A dunk from Balogun with 6:39 left brought BU to within two, 23-21. But La Salle ended the half on a 13-6 run to take a 36-27 lead at the break.

The Bearcats return home to host Loyola Maryland Wednesday night at the Events Center.