With a two-game America East (AE) win streak on the line, the Binghamton men’s basketball team went on the road and fell to undefeated Vermont 62-49 at Patrick Gymnasium. The Bearcats kept the score close, only trailing by two going into halftime. However, the Catamounts pulled away in the second half, outscoring BU 40-29 in the second half to capture the victory.

“We played a solid game,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “You know, first half, I thought we had some defensive lapses where we gave them some open shots, but we didn’t want to. With that being said, I thought we were solid pretty much the whole start of the game.”

The Bearcats (10-11, 2-6 AE) started the game off strong, holding the lead over the Catamounts (18-5, 8-0 AE) for a good amount of the first half. Graduate student guard Dan Petcash put the first points on the scoreboard with a three-pointer off an assist from fellow graduate student guard Symir Torrence. Binghamton played a strong defense, disrupting Vermont’s many attempts to score and forcing multiple turnovers.

Senior guard Armon Harried made two dunks within the first 10 minutes before the Catamounts were able to eventually respond. Halfway through the first period, Vermont took a 14-12 lead and, after this point, the Catamounts held it for the remainder of the half. However, Binghamton stayed toe-to-toe with the Catamounts, as sophomore guard Chris Walker drained two three-pointers. Then, with time expiring, Petcash grabbed a rebound off a three miss from Walker and layed it in as BU trailed 22-20 going into halftime.

“Offensively, we just didn’t make enough shots,” Sanders said. “They had no points of all turnovers in the first half, [and in the] second half, they had 10 points of all turnovers. So we ended up with 13, and you need to have more like seven like we had last game against NJIT. [Vermont] makes you pay for every mistake you make. We just gotta get better at just similar execution.”

Going into the second half, the Bearcats and Catamounts were exchanging points for almost four minutes, until Vermont got ahead and went on a seven-point run, bringing the score to 34-27. The Catamounts fed off their home-court advantage, gaining more energy and motivation from the crowd. Binghamton fought to keep the score close — however, every attempt the Bearcats made to even out the score was shut down by the Catamounts.

And as the clock ran out, Binghamton struggled to put the ball in the basket, allowing UVM to go on a five-point run in the last four minutes. Binghamton scored its final three points from foul shots by Harried and Torrence, but at this point in the game, a Bearcat comeback was too late. UVM took a double-digit lead at 62-49 after draining two free throws and running out the clock as the Catamounts secured a 13-point victory over Binghamton.

Leading the way for BU were Harried and junior guard Tymu Chenery, who both scored 12 points against Vermont. Adding to the board was Petcash, who contributed 10 points of his own. Leading in assists was Torrence with nine and in rebounds was Harried with seven.

“We have to have a different strategy,” Sanders said. “When we play against Albany. We just gotta get better at executing, down the stretch, close games, not having breakdowns on [offense] or [defense], then we’ll give ourselves a chance.”

The Bearcats will return home to host a throwback night against Albany on Thursday, Feb. 8. Tip-off is set for 6:07 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.