LOWELL, Mass. - Sophomore point guard John McGriff scored a career-high 21 points and visiting Binghamton men's basketball (11-13, 8-7 America East) shot a record 79 percent in the second half to roll past UMass Lowell (13-13, 5-9 AE) 78-64 Saturday night at Tsongas Center. The win moved the Bearcats into a three-way tie for second place in the playoff standings with three games remaining in the regular season.

Binghamton led 34-32 at half but missed just five shots the entire second period and led for all but nine seconds. McGriff scored 15 of his points in the second frame and wound up hitting 9-of-14 for the game. He became BU's sixth different player this season to post a 20+ point game - most in the conference. 

Junior guard Dan Petcash hit 8-of-10 shots, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range and wound up with 19 points and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Kellen Amos added an important 12 points, six boards and two steals in 23 minutes off the bench and junior guard Jacob Falko chipped in 10 points (5-of-8 FG). Senior center Ogheneyole Akuwovo had seven rebounds and two blocks in 14 minutes of work.

"I thought after the first 10 minutes we played probably our best overall team game of the season," head coach Levell Sanders said. "We defended at a high level and shared the ball really well. John and Dan were great but Saviour and Kellen gave us a boost off the bench. I really liked the way we played tonight ... it was a total team effort."

The first half featured five ties and seven lead changes after BU rallied from an early hole. Lowell jumped out to a 24-15 lead with 9:16 to play before Amos (4 pts.) keyed an 11-2 run that drew the Bearcats even at 26-26. Then down four, the Bearcats ended the half with a 6-0 run, with Falko scoring four of those - the last two courtesy of a Amos steal. 

The victory completed a season sweep of the River Hawks and gave Binghamton a 5-2 road conference record this season, best since 2008-09. The win also was BU's eighth in league play, most in 12 years.     

The Bearcats return home to face league-leading Vermont on Wednesday at the Events Center. 

NOTE
The previous record for field goal percentage in a half was 74%, set against Northeastern in the first half on Jan. 21, 2004.