VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball looks to extend its winning ways at home and hunt a home playoff game when the Bearcats (14-14, 6-7 America East) host Maine (16-11, 8-4 AE) on Senior Day Saturday at the Events Center. The teams tip at 2 p.m. at Dr. Bai Lee Court following pregame recognition for the Bearcats' four student managers and four senior players. 

Binghamton has won five of its last seven games to reach the .500 mark overall. More importantly, the Bearcats are just a half-game out of fourth place in the America East standings, which would deliver a home quarterfinal game on March 8. Head coach Levell Sanders' squad is 8-3 at home and is coming off a resounding 79-60 win over New Hampshire Thursday night. 

ABOUT MAINE
• Coming off 79-68 loss at UAlbany on Thursday
• In that game, led by three at half before allowing 51 second-half pts.
• Have dropped two straight after blazing to an 8-2 AE start
• Sit third in standings — one game out of second and two games clear of fourth place
• Already having best conference season (9 wins) in 14 years
• Graduate guard Kellen Tynes is two-time reigning America East Defensive Player of Year and is second in NCAA with 3.1 steals per game
• Picked fourth in AE Preseason Poll — highest projection in 14 years
• After non-conference play, Maine had the second-best NCAA NET Rating (#200) of any America East school (behind UMass Lowell)
• Rank second in AE in defense (65.8 pts. allowed) and force conference-leading 15.0 turnovers per game
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MAINE
• With win last month in Orono, Maine has pulled ahead 24-23
• In that game, Maine shot 73% in the second half and closed the game with a 17-7 run to win 81-72 Thursday night at The Pitt. Despite owning a double-digit lead early in the second half, the Bearcats were held to just eight second-half field goals. Binghamton converted just three shots over the game's final eight minutes as the fouls and turnovers mounted, amid Black Bear pressure. Tymu Chenery collected team-highs of 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four blocks
• Binghamton swept the season series last year, winning 51-50 on the road and 76-74 (ot) in Vestal
• Teams have alternated sweeping season series in each of the last SIX years, with the Bearcats winning in 2019, 2022 and 2024 and Maine winning in 2018, 2020 and 2023 (minus 2021 COVID season when they didn't play each other)
• Three of the last four games have been decided by four or fewer pts
• In Vestal, BU leads 16-7 but the teams have split the last eight
• Last season at the Events Center, Binghamton made 4-of-6 shots in overtime and sank 6-of-8 free throws to hold off visiting Maine 76-74. Armon Harried produced 16 points, eight rebounds and a career-high seven assists in the full 45 minutes. Gavin Walsh scored a game-high 17 points with nine rebounds.

RESOUNDING WIN OVER UNH ON THURSDAY      
After three straight single-digit games, including an overtime win, the Bearcats took the guesswork out of the result early against visiting UNH on Thursday. Binghamton led by 13 at half and padded it to as many as 29 points in a 79-60 romp. The win was the program's most lopsided conference victory in four years, since a 65-44 home win over the same Wildcats on Jan. 30, 2020.

SENIOR DAY SATURDAY      
Before the Maine game, Binghamton will honor its four seniors: Nehemiah Benson, Ben Callahan-Gold, Tymu Chenery and Robby Phillips. Benson (57 games) and Chenery (55) have been vital two-year contributors to the program.  

STARTING UNIT IS 10-4
The current starting unit of Peterson-Chenery-Walker-Walsh-Benson is 10-4. All other starting groups are a combined 4-10.

UNBEATEN IN OT
The Bearcats are 3-0 in overtime this season. The last time they went through a season unbeaten in OT (more than one OT game) was in the 2008-09 championship season, when they also went 3-0 in OT. In games decided by five or fewer points this season, BU is 7-3.  

WALSH MAKING MARK IN AE, NCAA REBOUND LISTS
Sophomore forward Gavin Walsh is putting himself in elite company with his rebounding this season. He has equaled or broken the school single-game rebound mark three times this season (19-20-23) and ranks among the NCAA top-10 in four categories. Walsh currently is:
• 1st in NCAA in defensive rebounds (9.1)
• 3rd in total rebounds (302)
• 4th in rebounds per game (11.2)
• 9th in double-doubles (school-record-tying and AE-leading 13)
• One of just two players in NCAA with pair of 20+ rebound games
• His single-game-record 23 boards vs. UML on Feb. 6 is tied for fourth-highest in America East history, behind pair of NBA draft picks (Malik Rose, Drexel and Spencer Dunkley, Delaware); it's also the highest total in an AE regular season game in 30 years
• His current 11.2 average is highest of any America East player in 10 years (Jameel Warney, Stony Brook, 11.7 in 2014-15)  

BEARCATS HAVE WON FIVE OF SEVEN, HUNTING FOURTH PLACE  
With three regular season games remaining, the Bearcats are in the middle of a tightly-packed group of five teams all separated by just 1.5 games. UAlbany (6-6) is in the coveted No. 4 spot (home quarterfinal game) after its home win over Maine Thursday. Binghamton is a half-game back in fifth place at 6-7. The Bearcats, who have won five of their last seven, likely need to go 2-1 at minimum to get to 8-8 and have a shot at fourth place, likely via tiebreak. UAlbany holds an important tiebreak edge due to its win over first-place Bryant. Last season, Binghamton finished 3-1 to get to 7-9 overall, which was good for a share of fourth place ... but the No. 5 seed due to tiebreaks. The last time BU hosted a home playoff game was the 2009 championship game, which No. 1 BU won 61-51 over No. 6 UMBC. The last time the Bearcats hosted a quarterfinal game was in 2006, when No. 2 BU toppled No. 7 Maine, 71-62. Binghamton is 10-17 all-time in the America East tournament (3-3 home).        

WALSH DOUBLE-DOUBLE WATCH  
Sophomore forward Gavin Walsh has three straight double-doubles and is approaching his own school record of four consecutive, set in November. He has an America East-leading 13 on the season, which ranks tied for ninth in the NCAA. On that national top-10 list, Walsh is the lone underclassman. He is tied with Jordan Reed (2012-13) for the Binghamton single-season record.

IRONMAN CHENERY
In his final collegiate season, graduate guard Tymu Chenery is logging 37.2 minutes a game in conference play (3rd in AE). Chenery (998 min.) will go over the 1,000-minute mark on Saturday (first time in his five-year collegiate career). He is joining a short list of Bearcats (in D-1 era) who have averaged 36.0 or more minutes. George Tinsley averaged a school-record 38.4 minutes in 2019-20. Also on the list are Jimmy Gray (36.5 in 2012-13) and Mike Gordon (36.4 in 2006-07).  

PETERSON ON POINT
Senior point guard Wes Peterson, Jr. has been a key contributor since returning from an injury that cost him three games in mid-January. In his last eight games, he is averaging 12.0 points on 54% shooting. He is adding 2.4 assists, is shooting 78% from the free throw line and is logging more than 35 minutes a game.  

SEVEN-MAN ROTATION
Head coach Levell Sanders always reduces his playing rotation as conference play begins but this year's version is a particularly lean one. It's a seven-player rotation with the starting group of Peterson-Chenery-Walker-Walsh-Benson averaging 34 minutes a game and accounting for 82% of the offense. Add in Callahan-Gold and Ashe as the sixth and seventh men and that seven-man group accounts for 99% of the points (all but eight points) and 96% of minutes.  

CALLAHAN-GOLD FAMILY HAS LAST LAUGH
Graduate forward and Manhattan native Ben Callahan-Gold has quickly made his impact at Binghamton after playing the previous four years at Division III power Trinity. An added bonus has been the addition of Ben's famous mother, Judy Gold, who is a stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster and television writer. She won two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work as a writer and producer on The Rosie O'Donnell Show. Judy hosts the podcast "It's Judy's Show with Judy Gold." Gold's stand-up specials have aired on Comedy Central, LOGO, and HBO and she has made appearances on The Tonight Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and has been a guest on The View, The Today Show, The Drew Barrymore Show, and a free-speech advocate on MSNBC, CNN and NewsNation. Gold and her son with both be on display Saturday as a film crew is recording Judy watching her son play for a special project.

SHOOT 45%, SCORE 70 POINTS ... WIN
This year, when the Bearcats reach 70 points on offense, they are 11-4 and when they don't, they are 3-10. When they shoot 45% or better, they are 12-5. When shooting below that threshold, they are 2-9.