VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball used an 18-2 second-half run to pull ahead and the Bearcats (10-12, 2-5 America East) sank four free throws in the final 21 seconds to hold off visiting Vermont (11-11, 4-3 AE) 75-72 Thursday night at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. The win, in front of 2,429 fans, snapped a 22-game losing streak to the Catamounts that dated back to 2015.

Senior point guard Wes Peterson, Jr. scored eight of his team- and career-high 18 points during the pivotal run, which spanned 4:24. The Bearcats trailed 52-47 with 7:52 remaining before Peterson aggressively turned a pair of and-1 layups into three-point plays and sophomore forward Gavin Walsh (17 pts., 13 rebs.) sandwiched a 3-pointer in-between. When the run ended, Binghamton had a 65-54 bulge with 3:28 left. Vermont trimmed the margin to three points three different times in the closing minutes but Walsh made a pair of free throws and graduate forward Ben Callahan-Gold sealed the win with two makes with five seconds left.

"I'm proud of the way we battled tonight," head coach Levell Sanders said. "The guys were really locked in this week and everyone kept saying 'not today.' This was the last team in the conference we hadn't beaten. It was a total team effort. During our last five games, we haven't been able to put a whole game together and make the plays necessary but today we made play after play after play. We hadn't lost confidence but this will give us an opportunity to say we beat one of the best teams in the league so let's put this thing together going forward. It was a big-time win."

It didn't look promising from the opening whistle as Vermont forced four turnovers in the first three minutes and quickly jumped ahead 10-0. But Callahan-Gold hit a 3-pointer, Peterson drove to the basket for a layup and the ensuing 18-5 Bearcats run gave them a lead midway through the half. Binghamton shot 55% in the opening period and held the Catamounts to just 37% accuracy and Callahan-Gold's 11 points helped stake the Bearcats to a 36-31 halftime lead.   

Neither team led by more than six in the second half until Binghamton used the 18-2 run to extend the margin to double digits. In all, there were four ties and nine lead changes in the game. Walsh scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half and collected his conference-best ninth double-double, thanks to 13 defensive boards. 

Senior forward Chris Walker hit 7-of-8 free throws for 14 points and Callahan-Gold finished with 13 points. 

Binghamton next heads to Albany for a Saturday night tilt with the Great Danes.  

NOTE
Binghamton's last win against Vermont was 57-55 on Feb. 18, 2015 at the Events Center ... The eight-time reigning America East regular season champion Catamounts are 46-9 all-time against Binghamton and entered the game having won 55 of their last 60 games against all conference opponents.