DURHAM, N.H. Junior guard Jacob Falko scored a game-high 21 points and sophomore guard John McGriff converted an off-balance, driving layup with 30 seconds left to lead sixth-seeded Binghamton men's basketball (12-16) to a 72-69 upset win over third-seeded New Hampshire (15-12) in an America East quarterfinal game Sunday afternoon at Lundholm Gymasium.
 

Falko returned to the lineup after an ankle injury kept him out of three straight games and his 15 second-half points lifted the Bearcats to their second semifinal berth in the last four years. Binghamton will head to top-seeded Vermont for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday in Burlington.  
 

"This win is for the fans back in Binghamton," head coach Levell Sanders said. "We wanted to get a home playoff game for them but we came up short … so this is for them. It was an intense playoff game today and we battled right down to the last shot. I'm just happy we were able to come out with the win."
 

The back-and-forth game featured 12 lead changes before Binghamton used a 13-1 run to seize the lead late. The Bearcats trailed 54-49 with 9:14 to play before Falko led the charge. He drilled a 3-pointer and followed with a 3-point play in a 44-second span to begin the run. McGriff hit a tough turnaround jumper, junior guard Tyler Bertram cashed in a 3-ball from the corner and junior forward George Tinsley earned a tough inside bucket to cap the run and give BU a 62-55 lead with 4:33 left.
 

After another Bertram 3-pointer, BU led 70-64 with 1:31 left before the Wildcats made one final push. UNH scored five straight and hit a 3 to pull within one, 70-69 with 50 seconds left. But McGriff weaved his way to the basket and converted a difficult bucket to extend the lead to three, 72-69. After a series of UNH intentional fouls and a front-end miss by the Bearcats, UNH was off the mark with a 3-attempt at the buzzer. 
 

Falko hit 4-of-9 from 3-point range and added five assists in 33 gutsy minutes, just days after his status looked bleak. As a team, BU made 11-of-23 from deep and improved to 9-1 when they reach 70 points. 
 

Bertram hit 3-of-4 for 12 points, McGriff wound up with eight points and a game-high six assists and senior center Ogheneyole Akuwovo had 10 points and five boards. Junior forward Christian Hinckson contributed nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds despite nursing foul trouble.    
 

The Bearcats rode the play of Hinckson in the first half. The junior forward scored the team's first nine points and also pulled down eight rebounds in the opening period. BU shot 50 percent and led by as many as eight points (20-12) before the teams traded blows in the closing minutes with BU taking a 36-34 edge into the locker room. UNH hit six 3-pointers to aid its cause and the half featured three ties and eight lead changes. 
 

It was BU's second tournament road upset in the last four years. In the 2019 tournament, seventh-seeded BU stung second-seeded Stony Brook to reach the semifinals.