VESTAL, N.Y. - Amid an electric near-capacity atmosphere, Binghamton men's basketball (6-4) shot 58 percent in the second half and rode the scoring touch of senior guard Tymu Chenery (31 pts.) to a 91-79 win over visiting Le Moyne (3-7) Saturday afternoon at the Events Center.

The game was the first of a new "Battle for the Interstate" rivalry between the two schools and the crowd and game didn't disappoint, as a season-high 3,583 could attest.

Binghamton has now won six of its last eight games and is hitting stride with three games remaining before America East play begins.

The teams combined for 24 3-pointers, were both stellar from the free throw line and the game was packed with story lines, including large student contingents from both schools plus the courtside presence of Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim. 

"It was a great atmosphere," head coach Levell Sanders said. "Our organization and Le Moyne put a really good event together. I haven't seen a crowd like that in a while. We came out ready to play. We were confident we could guard them and once we cleaned up a few things, our defense turned into offense and we had a number of guys step up and make shots. It was a total team effort and that's what we know we can be and have to be. And when we do that, we can be really good."

Binghamton opened the game with a 16-8 run and led by eight before the Dolphins closed the half with a 16-4 run to take a 41-37 halftime lead. 

The Bearcats opened the second half on fire and used a 30-10 run to build a 67-51 cushion with 10:36 left. Le Moyne, however, countered with a strong three minutes to pull within six, 72-66, with 7:08 left. But Chenery polished off his exceptional game with six points in a 1:27 span to restore BU's double-digit lead and the Bearcats made five free throws in the final 53 seconds to close out the win.

In addition to his career-high scoring output, Chenery pulled down 12 rebounds to earn a double-double. He hit 13-of-17 shots, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, and added four blocks to his America East-leading total. 

Graduate guard Symir Torrence produced his own double-double with 13 points and a career-high 11 assists. Graduate forward Armon Harried had his most complete showing of the season with 18 points and four assists. Graduate forward Dan Petcash returned from injury to hit 4-of-7 3-pointers and contribute 14 points. Senior forward Nehemiah Benson gave BU its fifth double-digit scorer with 10 points in 26 minutes. 

Binghamton is off a week for final exams before hosting Niagara next Saturday afternoon.

NOTES
The 3,583 was the highest attendance figure since BU drew 3,835 for a home game against Albany on Feb. 16, 2022. The figure was BU's highest for a non-conference game in six years, when 3,640 saw a win over Colgate on Dec. 2, 2017.