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VESTAL, N.Y. – Willie Rodriguez scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Binghamton Bearcats to a win over Vermont, 57-55, at the Events Center on Wednesday night in America East men's basketball action.
Binghamton snapped a four-game losing streak and handed Vermont its first loss in five games. The Bearcats improved to 5-24 overall and 4-10 in league play. Vermont drops its third league game of the year, falling to 16-11 overall and 11-3 in the conference.
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Box Score (.pdf) Rodgriguez was 8-for-14 from the field and added three rebounds and three blocks. Bobby Ahearn chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds and Romello Walker added 10 points.
Dre Wills paced Vermont, scoring a team-high 14 points and grabbing six rebounds.
Ethan O'Day added 10 points, seven rebounds and matched his career high with five blocks.
Cam Ward chipped in 10 points off the bench.
The first half featured six ties, but Vermont was able to pull out to a six point lead on a basket by O'Day at the 8:41 mark of the stanza.
A jumper by Rodriguez with 3:48 left in the half knotted the game up at 20. Vermont answered with a 7-3 spurt and took a 27-23 lead into the break.
The Catamounts opened up a 10-point advantage on the Bearcats after a 3-pointer by
Trae Bell-Haynes with 12:44 remaining in the contest.
Binghamton responded with a 19-9 run over the next nine minutes to tie the game up at 50 with 2:55 remaining. The Bearcats took their first lead of the half on a pair of free throws by Romello at the 1:48 mark and two more free throws pushed their advantage to four, 54-50, with 46 second remaining.
O'Day converted a layup to slice the lead to two with 37 seconds left. Marlon Beck II went 3-for-4 from the line to give Binghamton a 57-52 lead with 10 seconds remaining.
Dre Wills drained a 3-pointer with four seconds left to bring Vermont within two, 57-55.
Binghamton missed two free throws in the final 2.7 seconds, the second on purpose, but
Cam Ward's last second 3-point attempt was off target.
Vermont has a week off and returns to action on Wednesday, February 25 when it hosts New Hampshire. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Prior to the game UVM will honors its senior class of
Hector Harold and
Ryan Pierson.
NOTES: Ethan O'Day moved into fourth place among UVM's all-time leaders in blocks with five on the night ... He passed former standout Evan Fjeld '11 and has 134 career rejections ... Despite the loss at Binghamton, Vermont has held its last 13 opponents under 60 points ... The Bearcats made 27 trips to the free throw line in the game, making 15 of the attempts, while Vermont earned eight trips to the charity stripe in the contest.