WEST POINT, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball (8-6) built a nine-point halftime lead and held off host Army (5-6) 78-68 Sunday afternoon at Christl Arena. The win was the Bearcats' sixth straight and kept the team unbeaten in December. 

The victory featured several strong performances, including a record-breaking day on the boards for sophomore forward Gavin Walsh. Against a Black Knights team ranked 33rd in the country in rebounds, the Bearcats had the advantage on the glass (+5) with Walsh leading the way. He pulled down a school-record 20 boards, eclipsing the program's Division I record of 19 he previously shared with Thomas Bruce. Walsh notched 10 boards in each half and grabbed the record-breaker at the final horn. 

Senior forward Chris Walker continued his scoring pace with a game-high 16 points. In his last five games, Walker is averaging 21.0 points on 67% shooting. He hit 7-of-11, including a pair of threes to pace the Bearcats, who also got 16 points from graduate guard Tymu Chenery. Senior forward Nehemiah Benson tallied 15 points in 22 foul-plagued minutes and graduate forward Ben Callahan-Gold added 12 points. Sophomore guard Evan Ashe chipped in three blocks, three assists and a key steal late in the game to help preserve the win.   

"It was a really good performance," head coach Levell Sanders said. "Army is a physical team and a good offensive team so it was important for us to do a good job on the boards and we did. We wanted to play inside and we were able to do that. Our mission today was to go 1-0 and now we can have a good Christmas break." 

The Bearcats led for more than 34 minutes but had to endure a few Army charges in the second half. The hosts trimmed their deficit to five, 68-63, with 4:47 left before Chenery hit two free throws and then cut for a layup off a keen look from Benson to push the lead back up to nine, 72-63, with 2:33 left. After an Army 3-pointer brought it back to a six-point margin, Benson drove for a layup with 1:56 left and the Bearcats made 4-of-4 free throws in the final 53 seconds to seal the win. 

In the first half, the Bearcats used a 12-0 run to build a lead. Down 16-13 eight minutes in, Callahan-Gold tallied four points and Walker and Walsh added threes during the run, which spanned 3:54. Callahan-Gold then added a 3 as Binghamton extended its run to 19-6 to go up double digits late in the half. Thanks to 58% shooting, the Bearcats led 42-33 at intermission.
 
The Bearcats are off a week before heading to Poughkeepsie to face high-flying Marist (8-2, 5-0 home).