VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball (14-14, 6-9 America East) makes its annual March trek to Baltimore to face UMBC (11-19, 6-9 AE) in the regular season finale Tuesday night at Chesapeake Arena. The teams are part of a three-way logjam in fifth place entering the final game. Binghamton, winners of two straight and three of four, will carry anywhere from the fifth to eighth seed into a quarterfinal road game Saturday. A win would give BU the No. 5 seed for the upcoming AE tournament and send BU back to Durham for a Saturday quarter at #4 UNH

The Bearcats have 14 overall wins — most in 15 years (since 2008-09 America East title team won 23). Binghamton finished with a 10-4 home record but will look to improve its 4-10 road mark.

Senior guard Tymu Chenery continues to lead BU in scoring (14.8 ppg.). Graduate forward Armon Harried is averaging 13.3 points and 6.7 rebounds against conference opponents. Freshman forward Gavin Walsh is this week's America East Rookie of the Week after averaging 13.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in last week's pair of wins. Both Harried and Walsh are Baltimore natives and a large Bearcat contingent is expected to be on hand Tuesday night.  

ABOUT UMBC 

• Have been idle since beating NJIT 79-60 Thursday in Newark
• In that game, UMBC stretched a seven-point halftime lead with 47 second-half points (17-of-20 FT)
• Marcus Banks, Jr. had team-high 18 and leading scorer Dion Brown (18.9 ppg.) added 15; team held NJIT to 29% shooting 
• Team has won four of last five after losing five of six previously
• Six of its eight AE losses have come by six or fewer points
• Team is scoring 79 ppg. (third in AE) but giving up 81 ppg. (last) 
• Lost all five starters from 18-14 team that went 8-8 in AE and tied BU for fourth in standings
• Averaged 19+ wins over last seven seasons and are six years removed from becoming the first #16 seed to knock off a #1 seed when the Retrievers shocked Virginia, 74-54, in the 2018 NCAAs.
• In rebuilding mode with 11 newcomers (6 freshmen) this season  

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UMBC 

• UMBC leads the all-time series, which began in 2004, 25-20
• In the first game between the two teams on Feb. 15 in Vestal, UMBC hit 12 three-pointers, built a double-digit cushion and held off BU 89-78. The Retrievers shot 56 percent in the second half to keep their 11-point halftime margin. Binghamton trailed by as many as 16 points midway through the second half before pulling to within six, 82-76, with 3:17 to play. But UMBC drilled its 12th three-pointer with 2:46 left for the final dagger. BU played without point guard Symir Torrence. Armon Harried filled in and wound up with team-highs of 19 points and six assists. Tymu Chenery added 16 points
• UMBC swept the season series for the second straight year last winter but BU prevailed 67-65 in the America East quarterfinals in Baltimore last March 4
• That postseason game was delayed six hours due to a power outage before fifth-seeded BU outlasted fourth-seeded UMBC to advance to the semifinals for the second straight year and third time in five years. Jacob Falko (16 pts.) and Dan Petcash sank two free throws apiece in the last 18 seconds and Armon Harried secured the final rebound off an intentional UMBC FT miss with one second left to seal the win. The second half featured six ties and five lead changes. The last was a go-ahead FT from Harried with 1:33 left.
• In Baltimore, UMBC leads 15-7

BU CLOSES OUT HOME SCHEDULE WITH BACK-TO-BACK WINS  
The Bearcats finished off a 10-4 home record with two wins last week. On Thursday, BU played a sharp five-minute overtime (4-of-6 FG, 6-of-8 FT) and completed a season sweep of Maine with a 76-74 win. The victory clinched a fourth straight playoff spot for the Bearcats. Two days later, BU led for 38+ minutes in a comfortable 87-74 win over fourth-place UNH. That win gave BU a season split with the Wildcats.    

NEAR-EVEN SCORING MARGIN MESHES WITH .500 TEAM 
After 28 games, BU is 14-14 and its scoring margin tells the same tale. The Bearcats are averaging 72.4 points and are allowing 72.1 points. Though BU and its opponents are getting to that 72-point figure differently. Opponents are making 2+ more three-pointers per game and are converting at a much higher percentage from the free throw line (72% to 67%). The Bearcats are using their rebound edge (+5.6) and better conversion inside the arc (53% to opponents' 47%) to reach their scoring figure. 

OFFENSE IS CLICKING LAST THREE GAMES
In BU's last three games, the team is averaging 81.0 points and is 2-1 with a tight loss at UMass Lowell being the lone setback. Since a 49-point clunker at first-place Vermont on Feb. 3, BU is scoring 75.4 points in its last seven games and is 4-3. Even the three-point shooting, which has been a weakness for BU this season, has spiked during the recent surge. In the last two games, BU has nailed 10 and 11 three-pointers, after averaging less than six all season.  

WALSH NAMED AMERICA EAST ROOKIE OF WEEK FOR SECOND TIME
Freshman forward Gavin Walsh earned America East Rookie of the Week honors on Monday after averaging 13.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in a 2-0 week. He scored a team-high 17 points in the 76-74 OT win over Maine and then narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds in the win over UNH. It was Walsh's second honor, as he previously won it on Jan. 2 after totalling a season-high 19 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the win over Marywood.  

CHENERY REACHES 1,000-POINT SCORING MARK
Senior guard and leading scorer Tymu Chenery needed 12 points on Thursday to reach 1K and with his overtime layup with 1:25 left, he wound up with 13 to push over the 1K mark. The bucket broke a 68-68 tie and gave BU the lead for good. He scored 642 points in three seasons at Quinnipiac and now has 369 this season with the Bearcats. Chenery ranks 8th in the America East in scoring (15.0), 10th in field goal percentage (51%) and fifth in blocks (1.4). He has scored in double figures 14 straight games. 

TORRENCE IS 3RD IN NCAA IN ASSISTS 
Graduate guard Symir Torrence is now at No. 3 in the nation in assists (7.5/game), behind Tyler Kolek of Marquette (7.6) and Elijah Hawkins of Minnesota (7.52). In his last four games, Torrence is averaging 9.3 assists. He has produced eight or more assists 11 times this season. That 7.5 average also leads the America East by more than two per game. Torrence (172 total assists) is bidding to become the first America East player in 18 years (Jay Greene, UMBC, 7.2/game) to average more than 7.0 assists per game. Sam Sessoms holds the BU Division I record for season assist average (4.8 in 2019-20). Former D3 point guard Chris Ballerini (1995-99) holds the overall program records for season assists (217) and assist average (8.0), both achieved in 1997-98, BU's final season of D3. Torrence also leads BU in rebounding (5.9, 10th in AE) and has had 11 double-digit scoring games. He has two double-doubles, including one at UML last Thursday (12 points, 11 assists). The last time a BU player ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation in any statistical category was 7-foot shot blocker Nick Billings '05, who was second in blocks (6.5/game) in 2002-03. 

HARRIED FOR THREE??
Graduate forward Armon Harried (1,271 career points) has made a living getting to the hoop but after making just five 3-pointers in the season's first 26 games, he has made three "threes" in back-to-back games. Harried went 3-for-4 from behind the arc in the OT win over Maine and he followed that up with 3-for-3 accuracy in the win over UNH.  

PETCASH FILLING STAT SHEET AS CAREER WINDS DOWN
Graduate forward Dan Petcash is coming off a season-high 19 points (6-of-8 FG, 4-of-6 3-pt.) in the win over UNH but the fifth-year player and captain has also been contributing up and down the box score all season. He added nine rebounds and a career-high four steals against UNH. In his last two games ever at the Events Center, Petcash averaged 11.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals. He moved over the 900-point mark for his career (904) and has played 121 games as a Bearcat, five shy of tying the school record (126, Everson Davis, 2015-19). 

BEARCATS STRONG ON GLASS
Binghamton ranks second in the AE and 38th in the country in rebound margin (+5.1). The Bearcats also rank 24th in the nation in defensive rebounds (27.9/game).