NEWARK, N.J. – Senior guard Dan Petcash scored 21 points and drilled a corner 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in overtime to lift visiting Binghamton men's basketball (6-10, 2-1 America East) to a 72-71 win over NJIT (4-12, 1-2 AE) Wednesday night at the Wellness & Events Center.

After Petcash hit the three, NJIT drove for a possible game-winning bucket in the closing seconds but graduate forward Miles Gibson bottled up the lane and the Highlanders lost the ball as time expired.

"Dan made a big-time shot," head coach Levell Sanders said. "I'm happy with the way we shared the ball tonight. We battled and hung in there and I like the way we executed."

The Bearcats rescued the win after seeing NJIT force OT with a second-half comeback from 13 points down. The Highlanders hit a tying 3-pointer with a half-second remaining in regulation to extend the game.

Binghamton then played from behind for most of the overtime as NJIT made 4-of-5 field goals. Down 70-67, Petcash converted inside with 33 seconds left to make it 70-69. NJIT made 1-of-2 free throws with 31 seconds left to push their lead to 71-69. Junior forward Armon Harried secured the rebound off the NJIT free throw miss and BU set up for its final shot. With the defense collapsing to stop BU scoring leader Jacob Falko, the senior guard penetrated, absorbed contact and found Petcash in the right corner for the pivotal 3-ball.

Falko wound up with 13 points, five rebounds and a career-high-tying eight assists. Petcash tied his own career high with five 3-pointers (5-of-11). Harried added 10 points and nine rebounds and senior center Taveion White chipped in a career-high nine points on 4-of-4 shooting in his second start of the season. Junior center Tariq Balogun tallied nine second-half points and added four boards and a block. 

The Bearcats led 45-32 with 16:33 left before NJIT used a 20-7 run to climb back in the game. The final two minutes of regulation featured several key plays: a charge taken by Gibson on the defensive end with one minute left, an offensive rebound by Harried that led to a free throw by White with 30 seconds left, and two free throws from Falko with 23 seconds left that gave BU a 61-58 lead. But the Highlanders forced five more minutes with the buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

The Bearcats were strong out of the gate, building a 19-8 lead halfway through the period. Petcash scored eight of his 11 first-half points during the opening run and Falko handed out seven assists to fuel the offense. NJIT pulled it back to single digits, 28-20 with 2:20 left in the half but BU scored five of the final six points of the period to take a 33-21 cushion into break.

Binghamton returns home to host first-place UMass Lowell (3-1 AE) Saturday afternoon at the Events Center.