VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball begins the second half of conference play when the Bearcats (8-10, 5-4 America East) travel to Long Island to face Stony Brook (13-7, 5-2 AE) Wednesday night. Tip is set for 7 p.m. from the Island Federal Arena and the game will be shown on ESPN3. 

The Bearcats are tied for third place in the standings and with one more win, will achieve their highest America East win total in 12 years. Binghamton has its sights set on a postseason berth and a top-4 position, which would secure a home playoff game. 

Junior Jacob Falko leads the team in both scoring (12.5 ppg.) and assists (3.2/game). Junior Christian Hinckson is contributing 7.6 points and a team-best 6.2 rebounds. Sophomore point guard John McGriff is also a double-figure scorer with 10.4 points per game. 

With its elevated play this season, Binghamton has drawn increased attention and fan support. More than 2,100 attended the home game against UMBC on Saturday. Fox 40 covered the uprising in a recent feature here.

QUICK HITS
• This is Binghamton's 76th season of basketball, 21st in the America East
• The 2021-22 season marks the NCAA coaching debut of Levell Sanders, who was elevated to the head coach position in March after two seasons as an assistant coach. Sanders previously coached five years in the Czech Republic after a 17-year pro career overseas
• Wednesday's game starts the second half of the conference schedule (9 games left)
• BU has dropped two straight after winning three of previous four
• Bearcats are tied for third in standings halfway through conference schedule
   
About Binghamton
• Coming off tough 70-68 loss to UMBC on Saturday at Events Center
• Were whistled for 20 fouls — 13 in second half — and UMBC won game on pair of FTs with 1.8 left on clock
• Jacob Falko collected team-highs of 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists
• Tyler Bertram hit 5-of-12 3-pointers and was just short on a potential GW shot
• Christian Hinckson added 13 points (3-of-4 3-pt.) before fouling out
• Game featured nine ties and 16 lead changes (UMBC only led for 7 minutes)

About Stony Brook
• Rank second in America East in scoring (73.3 ppg.)
• Team has beaten all AE opponents except Vermont (0-2) this season
• On Friday opened with a 22-6 run and defeated UNH 76-69 in Durham
• Hit 11-of-27 3-pointers and withstood 45 UNH second-half points to win
• Picked to finish first in AE Preseason Poll after bringing in four transfers with more than 4,200 career points, headed by former first team all-conference forward Elijah Olaniyi, who played last season at ACC member Miami
• St. Bonaventure transfer Anthony Roberts leads team in scoring
• Program has won 20 or more games in seven of last eight full seasons

All-time series vs. Stony Brook
• Stony Brook leads the series, which dates back to 1962, 47-30
• Since both schools joined the America East in 2001, Stony leads 28-17
• Stony has won four straight and 23 of the last 27 after BU began the series with a commanding 12-4 lead between 2001-10
• On Long Island, Stony Brook leads 24-9
• In the first meeting two weeks ago (Jan. 19) in Vestal, Stony Brook converted 27-of-34 free throw attempts, including 16-of-18 in the second half to hold off BU 74-71. Stony Brook used a wide discrepancy in foul shots to win despite shooting just 34%. Binghamton made seven more field goals but surrendered 15 offensive rebounds to the Seawolves. The choppy game was bogged down with 39 foul calls and multiple reviews. Binghamton played from behind for more than 35 minutes but cut a 10-point deficit to one twice in the final 25 seconds.
• BU owns most prominent win with 78-72 stunner in 2019 AE quarterfinals on Long Island in a rare 7-over-2-seed upset
• With Stony Brook's recent announcement of the school's move to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), this could be the last meeting between the two schools while members of the America East  
   
A win over Stony Brook would ...
• Give BU six conference wins, the most the program has had since going 8-8 in 2009-10 (12 years ago)
• Give BU a split of the season series for the first time in four years
• Make it three straight Bearcat wins at the Island Federal Arena

70 is magic number
When BU scores 70 or more points (in regulation), they are 6-1 this season. When opponents reach 70, BU is 1-7.

Have to solve "Hump Day"
Binghamton is 0-5 on Wednesdays this season – the worst day of the week for the team's fortunes. In contrast, BU is a combined 5-0 on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. But there are four more Wednesday games on the schedule, so the Bearcats will need to reverse their mid-week trend to secure a playoff spot.

Home on the Island?
Binghamton has won the last two matchups at Island Federal Arena – both labeled as upsets. On Jan. 22, 2020, BU closed the game with a 10-2 run to upend first-place Stony Brook 83-79. Sam Sessoms (25 pts.) scored nine straight points in the deciding run. The previous matchup occurred on March 9, 2019 in the America East quarterfinals, when heavy underdog and No. 7 seed BU built a 24-point lead and held off No. 2 seed Stony Brook 78-72 to reach the tournament semifinals. That win bucked a 2-31 record for the No. 7 seed against the "2" and BU's win stopped a promising Seawolves season that included 24 wins and votes in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll.  

Nine starting lineups
With injuries, COVID and balanced production, BU has utilized nine different starting lineups through its first 18 games. That figure ranks 10th-most across the country.

Tinsley turns newfound minutes into production
Junior forward George Tinsley has averaged 22 minutes over his last three games after averaging just 6.6 minutes in his previous five games. In the Hartford series spanning three days, he produced a team-high 11 rebounds in the Jan. 24 win over Hartford and added team-highs of 15 points and eight boards in the loss two days later. He now has moved into eighth place on BU's career rebound list (395) and is five boards away from the 400 mark. Tinsley is shooting 47% from the field (66% inside arc) this season.

Bearcats are cranking out 20-point performances
Binghamton has had 10 instances of a 20+ point performance through its first 17 games. A league-best five different players have reached the plateau, led by junior guard Jacob Falko, who has five. Junior guard Tyler Bertram has done it twice and the others to reach 20 or more points in a game are Kellen Amos, Christian Hinckson and Dan Petcash.

Falko among America East leaders
Junior guard Jacob Falko has made a strong debut in the America East after transferring to Binghamton from Big South member Gardner-Webb (N.C.). In nine conference games, Falko is averaging 17.3 points on 53 percent shooting (59% inside the arc). He has five 20+ point performances and leads the conference in assists (4.6/game), is third in free throw shooting (83%), fourth in field goal percentage and fifth in scoring.  

Hinckson filling up stat sheet
Junior forward Christian Hinckson has become a key contributor since moving into the starting lineup. In nine conference games, Hinckson is averaging 11.7 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds. He has produced three double-doubles and notched a career-high 20 points in the Jan. 24 win over Hartford. He ranks second in the America East in rebounds and third in both blocks (1.4/game) and field goal percentage (56%).

McGriff stepping up in America East play
Sophomore guard John McGriff has raised his game in conference play. In his last six outings, McGriff is averaging 11.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists. He has double-digit points in five of his last six games and nine on the season.
 
Bearcats among stat leaders
Halfway through conference play, BU ranks among the league's top-3 in a handful of categories. Binghamton leads the league in rebounds (37.0/game) and 3-point defense (31%) and is third in scoring (69.6) and blocks (4.0/game).