BANGOR, Maine - The Black Bears faced off against the Binghamton Bearcats on Sunday afternoon, a game which was slow-going with a 27-24 halftime score, and ended up turning into a game of runs in the second half ending with Binghamton holding the lead, 65-54 over the Black Bears.

Wes Myers led all scorers with 22 points on 9-12 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds and two steals.

Ryan Bernstein and Andrew Fleming finished with eight points each; Bernstein also tallied five assists on no turnovers, and a steal, while Fleming grabbed nine rebounds and blocked one shot in the contest.

The game started out with neither team managing a basket for the first two and a half minutes of the game; Binghamton broke the tie with a layup with 17:22 remaining in the first, and Maine answered right back with their first points on a Ryan Bernstein three-pointer with 17:03 remaining. That would set the tone for the first half as the game was back-and-forth with a lot of defensive stops for both sides, culminating in a tie at 8-8 with 9:33 remaining in the first half. From that point forward Binghamton would pull out ahead of the Black Bears, eventually leading by 10 points with 3:21 remaining on a 10-3 run. Maine would immediately answer back with a 10-3 run of their own to cut the lead to 3 points at the half, 27-24 in favor of Binghamton.

Maine and Binghamton opened the second half of play trading baskets for the majority of the opening six minutes, with a 37-34 Binghamton lead with 14:28 remaining. Austin Howard entered the game for Maine at 13:29 remaining, and took the first shot he saw, hitting a three-pointer with 13:12 remaining tying the game up at 37-all. Binghamton would respond with an 8-0 run to try and put away Maine, with a couple defensive stops and two three-pointers. They would eventually take the lead all the way up to 12 points.

Maine was able to cut the lead to five points on a Ryan Bernstein drive to the basket, but missing the and-one free throw shot. Binghamton answered right back with a quick three-pointer, putting the lead back to eight points. Binghamton would hold a solid lead for the rest of the game as they ended the game up 11, the final score 65-54.

Maine will travel to face conference-best Vermont on Wednesday evening, before returning home this coming Saturday, February 4th to face UMBC at the Cross Center at 1pm. For tickets, visit Ticketmaster.com or the Cross Center box office.

-UMaine-