DURHAM, N.H. – Sam Pissis scored a game-high 30 points and New Hampshire (3-15, 1-2 America East) rallied past Binghamton men's basketball (9-9, 1-2 AE) 79-72 Saturday afternoon at Lundholm Gymnasium.

For the second straight game, Binghamton built a double-digit first-half lead only to surrender the lead and the game in the second half. UNH used an 18-6 run spanning the first 10 minutes of the second half to grab its first lead since the game's opening possession. Down eight with 4:21 left, the Bearcats twice brought it back to within three before UNH made 14-of-17 free throws in the closing 2:56 to close it out.

"We have to get better at getting stops and not giving teams so many points," head coach Levell Sanders said. "It's hard to win when you give up 79 points … we have to execute our game plan better than we are right now. In this league you have to be able to win on the road so we have to regroup, stay confident as a team and keep going."

Graduate guard Tymu Chenery led the Bearcats with 18 points, six assists and two blocks. Sophomore forward Gavin Walsh contributed his seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Senior forward Nehemiah Benson had 14 points (all in first half) and classmate Chris Walker added 11 points.

The Bearcats started strong with a 16-2 run that had them up 11 five minutes into the game. The rest of the first half featured back-and-forth runs that had Binghamton's lead oscillate from double digits down to three points and then back to a five-point margin at intermission. Three Bearcat starters had to nurse foul trouble (2 each) and UNH grabbed 10 offensive rebounds to offset Binghamton's 59% shooting. The Wildcats had the final push to keep it a two-possession game at half, 42-37.   

Binghamton closes out its tough three-game road stretch Thursday in Burlington when it will face three-time reigning conference champion Vermont.