VESTAL, N.Y. - Visiting Maine (12-16, 6-9 America East) closed overtime with a 10-2 run to sneak past Binghamton men's basketball (12-16, 8-7 AE) 71-67 Saturday afternoon in front of a season-high 3,678 fans at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. 

The Bearcats led by as many as 15 points and had the advantage for 38 minutes of the game before faltering late.

Binghamton led 65-61 with 1:59 left in overtime after graduate forward Christian Hinckson converted a 3-point play. But BU misfired on its next two shots and the Black Bears rallied with a 3-pointer and a layup to take a 67-65 lead with 23 seconds left. Maine then blocked a potential game-tying layup with 13 seconds left and converted four free throws in the final nine seconds of overtime to close out the scoring.

Junior forward Armon Harried tallied team-highs of 22 points and eight rebounds. Graduate forward Miles Gibson added 16 points, seven boards and four assists. Hinckson wound up with 12 points and eight rebounds. 

In front of a boisterous home crowd, Binghamton jumped out to a 28-13 lead halfway through the first period. The Bearcats then led 32-17 with 7:36 left before Maine countered with a 15-3 run to end the first half and pull within three, 35-32. Gibson had 12 of his 16 points in the first half. 

But BU committed 11 of its 16 turnovers after halftime and only made nine field goals in the second half, opening the door for the Black Bears, who completed the season sweep with just their second road conference win of the season.

Binghamton had several chances to seal the win in regulation, up 59-58 with the ball with 33 seconds left. After a timeout, BU turned the ball over the backcourt, however, and Maine used two offensive rebounds and a tossup foul call under the basket to tie the game at the line. The Bearcats then missed an opportunity to pull ahead at the other free throw line but missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 with 4.5 seconds left. 

"We couldn't come up with a rebound when we needed it down the stretch," head coach Levell Sanders said. "We had way too many turnovers. When you have that many turnovers, you put yourselves in trouble. We started the game well but have to play that way for 40 minutes and we didn't do that. We moved the ball and made some shots early and defensively we were fine, but offensively we lost our aggressiveness then didn't box out and rebound when we needed to late in the game."

Despite dropping its third straight game, Binghamton still has a chance to earn a top-4 position and with it, a home playoff game. The Bearcats, who began the day in a three-way tie for third place with Bryant and UNH, host UMBC on Tuesday in the regular season finale. Binghamton also owns tiebreak advantages over both Bryant and UNH. 

NOTES
Pregame, BU recognized its six seniors: Ador Athuai, Jacob Falko, Miles Gibson, John McGriff, Dan Petcash and Taveion White.