WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – Top-seeded Binghamton men's tennis (15-9) stormed past No. 5 Le Moyne (11-10) 4-1 in an NEC Championship semifinal match Saturday night at the Mercer County Tennis Courts. It was BU's third win this season over its I-81 neighbor and sends the Bearcats into Sunday's championship match with an NCAA berth on the line. In its first year of NEC membership, Binghamton will face No. 3 seed St. Francis (Pa.) for the title at 1 p.m. The Red Flash advanced with a 4-3 win over defending champion and No. 2 seed FDU.

It will be BU's first conference championship appearance since 2015 when they were runnersup in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Before that, BU won its 10^th and final America East championship in 2014.

The Dolphins took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2. But the Bearcats won the first four completed singles matches in straight sets to end the match.

Junior No. 5 Kyle Weekes provided the clinching point with his 6-4, 6-4 win. Earlier, NEC Rookie of the Year favorite Filipe Costa improved to 25-9 overall with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Sophomore No. 3 Ronin Lotlikar also notched his 25^th win of the season. Sophomore No. 6 James McPherson was the first Bearcat to capture a set and his fast start set the tone for BU's singles fury.   

"We knew it would be a battle," head coach Nick Zieziula said. "We lost the doubles point, which was disappointing, but our hallmark this year has been our responses. The guys have bought in to practicing, listening to Coach Ellis and head nods up and down and nothing side to side. We needed every ounce of that today to get through a good Le Moyne team. The guys didn't blink after the doubles ... you could just see it in the huddle. It was a total team effort."

The win was BU's fifth straight and eighth in its last nine matches.

NOTES
BU's regular season wins over Le Moyne were each by a 4-3 score ... the NEC title battle will be a rematch from eight days earlier when BU edged St. Francis 4-3 in Loretto, Pa.  

No. 1 Binghamton 4, No. 5 Le Moyne 1
DOUBLES
1. Leon Grundstroem/Alvaro Nunez (L) def. William Morais Binnie/James McPherson (BU), 6-4
2. Peter Hatton/Luka Stojanovic (L) def. Ronin Lotlikar/Kyle Weekes (BU), 6-3
3. Filipe Costa/Andrew Fang (BU) led Kacper Piekarak/Rodrigo Beires (L), 5-2, unfinished

Order of Finish: 2,1

SINGLES
1. William Morais Binnie (BU) led Peter Hatton (L), 3-6, 6-1, 1-0, unfinished
2. Filipe Costa (BU) def. Leon Grundstroem (L), 6-3, 6-3
3. Ronin Lotlikar (BU) def. Alvaro Nunez (L), 6-4, 6-2
4. Kacper Piekarek (L) led Zubin Omar (BU), 7-6 (5), 2-2, unfinished
5. Kyle Weekes (BU) def. Luka Stojanovic (L), 6-4, 6-4
6. James McPherson (BU) def. Rodrigo Beires (L), 6-1, 7-5

Order of Finish: 2,6,3,5