NEWARK, N.J. – Senior forward Nehemiah Benson tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds to lift Binghamton men's basketball (13-14, 5-7 America East) to a 75-71 overtime win over NJIT (5-22, 2-10 AE) Saturday afternoon at the WEC.

Benson scored 18 of his points in the second half and sank two clutch free throws with 8.5 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. Graduate forward Ben Callahan-Gold then converted two inside buckets in a 34-second span late in OT and senior guard Wes Peterson, Jr. sealed the win with four free throws in the final 13 seconds.

The win was Binghamton's fourth in its last six games. The road victory moved the Bearcats into a tie for fifth place in the America East standings, just a half-game out of fourth, with four games remaining.

"When you play hard until the end sometimes you can swing these games," head coach Levell Sanders said. "We lost that lead in the second half (13 pt. lead) but we stuck together and I'm happy we were able to pull it out. Nehemiah (Benson) gave us a big lift in the second half and we were able to make plays down the stretch."

The Bearcats saw a 13-point second-half lead disappear as the host Highlanders rattled off a 22-5 run that gave them the lead, 62-58, with 1:05 left in regulation.

But graduate guard Tymu Chenery converted a driving layup with 53 seconds left, Benson made the aforementioned free throws and NJIT missed a corner 3-point attempt to close out regulation. In the extra session, Peterson hit a tough turnaround to put Binghamton ahead 64-62, and the Bearcats never looked back. NJIT misfired on 7-of-10 shots in OT and Binghamton hit 7-of-8 free throws to stay ahead.

Benson hit 9-of-14 and set his career high with the 11 rebounds – all in a foul-managed 29 minutes. Sophomore forward Gavin Walsh produced his league-high 12^th double-double with 17 points and 16 rebounds. Walsh, who ranks second in the nation in defensive rebounds, hauled in 13 on the defensive glass. Senior guard Chris Walker nearly had his own double-double with 11 points and nine boards. Callahan-Gold wound up with eight points and six rebounds in 16 important minutes.

The Bearcats, one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the conference, prevailed despite going 0-for-15 from beyond the arc.

In the first half, the Bearcats used a 13-2 run midway through the period to build an eight point lead, 26-18. Walker had five points and Walsh four during the run, which spanned 6:32. But scoring was hard to come by for both teams, who were a combined 3-for-24 from 3-point range and in the low 30% range overall for the half. Binghamton led 30-27 at intermission.

Binghamton then hit 11-of-12 shots to start the second half, stretching its lead to 13, 53-40, with 11:52 left. Benson had 10 points in the first 4:21 of the half to spearhead the run. But NJIT countered with its big run to keep the result in doubt.

The Bearcats now play three of its final four games at home, beginning with a Thursday night matchup with New Hampshire.