VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball looks to keep its postseason hopes alive when the Bearcats (7-23, 3-12 America East) host Maine (8-21, 6-8 AE) at 2 p.m.Saturday afternoon at the Events Center. The team will recognize its seniors Wes Peterson, Jr. and Jackson Benigni in a pregame ceremony before closing its regular season with a crucial game.

With Thursday's 65-63 win over UNH and Bryant's 70-58 loss at UMBC, the Bearcats remain alive for the eighth and final playoff spot. Any ONE Bryant win or Binghamton loss will eliminate the Bearcats, so Binghamton needs a win over Maine plus two Bryant losses (Sat. home vs. NJIT and Tues. at UNH). Holding the tiebreak by virtue of a season sweep of the Bulldogs, Binghamton just has to forge a tie to get in. 

ABOUT MAINE
•    Coming off 70-59 road win at UAlbany on Thursday
•    Shot 55% and forced 17 UA turnovers
•    Have won two straight road games after going 2-12 on road previous
•    Black Bears have second-best defense in AE (68.6 ppg. allowed) but have lowest-ranked offense (62.8 ppg.)
•    Lead conference in steals with 7.9 per game
•    Picked to finish tied for second in the Coaches' Preseason Poll, with one first place vote
•    Placed third last year with a 10-6 mark (20-14 overall) and advanced to the championship game before falling 79-59 to Bryant
•    Graduated all-conference selections Kellen Tynes (2x AE Defensive Player of Year) and AJ Lopez
•    Have a famous brother in the lineup as NBA phenom Cooper Flagg's twin brother Ace is a freshman (game-high 22 pts. at UAlbany) 
•    Began season 0-11 but have gone 8-10 since

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MAINE
•    By virtue of 16-point home win last month, Maine now leads 25-24
•    In that game five weeks ago, Maine shot 63 percent in the second half to pull away at The Pitt. The Bearcats put five players in double figures and shot 52 percent but committed 16 turnovers. Maine drilled 11-of-22 from 3-point range to aid its cause. Down one at half, the Bearcats surrendered a 19-6 run early in the second half and couldn't tighten the margin to single digits thereafter. Jackson Benigni led the Bearcats with 13 points. Jeremiah Quigley had 12 points, and seven assists.
•    Last year each team won at home with the Black Bears winning 82-71 in Orono and Bing returning the favor in Vestal 71-69 13 days later
•    In most recent game at Events Center last Feb. 29 (also on Senior Day), Tymu Chenery drilled the game-winning 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to lift Binghamton. The game, in front of 2,394 fans, had a playoff atmosphere and featured eight second-half lead changes. 
•     Prior to last season's split, the teams had 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)
•     Four of the last six games have been decided by four or fewer pts
•    In Vestal, Binghamton leads 17-7

QUIGLEY AT TOP OF HIS GAME DOWN THE STRETCH
Already having produced a record-setting season, junior point guard Jeremiah Quigley has pushed his numbers even higher down the stretch. In his last 10 games, he is averaging 17.0 points (48% FG) and 7.0 assists.

BALANCED SCORING
The Bearcats are the only team in the America East with FIVE players averaging in double figures during conference play.  

BLACKBURN, SNAGG PLAY KEY ROLES
With the season on the line Thursday night, freshman Jake Blackburn and sophomore Stephan Snagg played key roles in the 65-63 win over UNH. Snagg played a career-high 36 minutes and contributed seven rebounds, six points and two assists. Blackburn packed all of his punch into the pivotal second half with 11 points. The team was plus-10 with Blackburn on the floor. 

JQ AND PETERSON LOGGING MAJOR MINUTES
Junior point guard Jeremiah Quigley and senior guard Wes Peterson, Jr. have been ironmen in a Binghamton lineup that's been battered by injuries. In his last seven games, Quigley has missed a total of just 3:31 of playing time. In that same stretch, Peterson has only missed 3:40 of time. Quigley ranks 9th in the nation in minutes per game (39) and Peterson is 44th (35). They rank 2-3 in the conference.   

QUIGLEY LEADS AMERICA EAST IN ASSISTS, IS 6TH IN SCORING
Junior point guard Jeremiah Quigley continues to lead the America East in assists (6.4/game) and has moved up to sixth in scoring (14.1 ppg.). Quigley ranks 16th in the country in assists.    

QUIGLEY SETS ASSIST RECORD
Junior point guard Jeremiah Quigley totaled 11 assists in the UML game and early in the second half, registered record-breaking handout No. 174, which surpassed the old mark of 173 set by Symir Torrence in 2023-24. That total is the highest of any America East player in 14 years. Torrence will still hold the record for assist average (7.2).

BEVERLY RANKS FIFTH IN PLAYER EFFICIENCY
Junior forward Zyier Beverly ranks fifth among all America East players in Player Efficiency Rating (sports-reference.com). The rating is based on per-minute production and Beverly has a rating of 20.4 (league average is 15). In traditional stats, Beverly ranks second in FG% (61%), second in blocks (1.4), 13th in rebounding (5.0) and 14th in scoring (12.1).