VESTAL, N.Y. - Winners of four of their last five, Binghamton men's basketball (4-3) heads north to face three-time reigning Patriot League champion Colgate (3-3) Wednesday night in Hamilton, N.Y. The teams tip at approximately 8:30 p.m. at Cotterell Court following a women's game.  

It will be the second straight road game for the Bearcats against a preseason conference favorite (Sacred Heart). 

Binghamton is coming off a 75-68 home win over Army on Saturday. In that game, guards Tymu Chenery and Symir Torrence combined for 43 points and BU never trailed. The Bearcats led by as many as 19 points in the second half before the Black Knights tightened it down the stretch. Binghamton made four free throws in the final 0:33 to hang on.

ABOUT COLGATE 

• Three-time reigning Patriot League champions
• Coming off 76-70 home loss to Harvard last Wednesday
• Have played five close games (seven points or fewer) with only exception being a 68-50 loss to Yale
• Led Syracuse by 24 points in second half before SU rallied for 79-75 win to deny Colgate a third-straight win over Orange
• Ranked #23 in CollegeInsider Mid-Major Preseason Top 25
• Preseason favorite in Patriot League after going 17-1 in league play (26-9 overall) last season en route to third straight NCAA berth
• Returned three starters but graduated PL Player of Year (Tucker Richardson) and PL all-time 3-point leader (Oliver Lynch-Daniels)
• Have balanced offense with four players scoring above 9.0 ppg. but offense is averaging 14 fewer points per game than a year ago

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. COLGATE 

• Colgate leads 13-5 and has won three straight in series
• Series has gone in waves with Colgate winning four straight (2011-14), BU winning three in a row (2015-17) and now Colgate with 3
• At Cotterell Court, Colgate is 6-2 all-time vs. Bearcats
• Last Dec. 7, Colgate posted an 81-62 win at Events Center
• In that game, Colgate blitzed BU with a 25-9 opening run, staked out a 22-point halftime lead and cruised to the win. The Raiders shot above 70 percent for much of the first half and despite outscoring Colgate in the second period, Binghamton could draw no closer than 14. 
• BU is 12-34 all-time against Patriot League teams but 2-0 this season after wins over Loyola and Army

CHENERY BACK-TO-BACK 20-POINT SHOWINGS
Senior guard Tymu Chenery has posted back-to-back 20+ point games and has taken over as the team's leading scorer (13.4 ppg.). He's the first Bearcat to notch two straight 20+ games since Jacob Falko did it early last season. Chenery went for 21 in Tuesday's road loss at Sacred Heart and then he netted a game-high and career-high 23 points (15 in second half) to key BU's 75-68 home win over Army. The record for consecutive 20+ point games is held by Sam Sessoms, who did it four straight games to close out the 2019-20 season. Chenery was named BU's Athlete of the Week for his two-game performance.   

TORRENCE LEADS AMERICA EAST IN ASSISTS 
Graduate guard Symir Torrence is quickly adding up his assist total to start 2023-24. He has 43 assists in seven games (6.1/game), which leads the America East by 1.3 per game and ranks 32nd in the country (KenPom assist rate). He has produced five or more assists every game this season and he also leads BU in rebounding (6.3). Torrence is shooting 55% from the floor (50% from 3-pt.). Sam Sessoms holds the BU Division I record for season assist average (4.8 in 2019-20). 

HARRIED REACHES 1,000-POINT PLATEAU
Graduate forward and team captain Armon Harried hit the 1,000-point mark for his career early in the Sacred Heart game on Nov. 21. His driving baseline layup in traffic 3:53 into the game gave him exactly 1,000 points in his 108th collegiate game. He played his first three seasons at Canisius and is in his second season with the Bearcats.  

BALOGUN ON A STRONG STRETCH
In his last four games, senior center Tariq Balogun is averaging 10.5 points on 73% shooting (16-of-22 FG). He hit 8-of-10 for 16 points in the win at Loyola and has gone 16-8-10-8 in the four-game stretch.   

BENSON RAISING HIS PRODUCTION
Senior forward Nehemiah Benson has produced back-to-back double-digit scoring games. He went for 10 points (5-for-7 FG) at Sacred Heart and backed that up with 10 points (3-of-4) against Army. Benson is averaging 7.7 points on 68% shooting in just 17 minutes a game. With an injury to regular starter Dan Petcash, Benson should get his second career start at Colgate.