Men's Basketball Faces Binghamton In AE Quarterfinals Saturday
March 2, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Freshman Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass.) and red-shirt freshman Tyler Morris (Indianapolis, Ind.) lead BU in scoring, with 14.5 and 13.9 points per game, respectively. Senior co-captain Omari Peterkin (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands) is the leading rebounder for the Terriers, averaging 6.5 boards per game. Binghamton is led by Richard Forbes' 11.7 points per game off the bench. Lazar Trifunovic is tops on the team in rebounding (6.4 rpg.)
The Terriers hold a 9-3 advantage in the all-time series. BU snapped a three-game Bearcat win streak with its 61-49 victory in Vestal, N.Y. on Jan. 11, 2006. The Terriers swept Binghamton this season, winning each time by 12 points. In the teams' last meeting, BU freshman Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine) poured in a career-high 30 points, on a school-record eight 3-pointers, to lead the Terriers past the Bearcats, 66-54, on Feb. 8 in Case Gym. BU held a 12-point lead with 9:37 to go in the game, but Binghamton whittled that to three, twice. However, Strong answered with two threes in the closing minutes and the Bearcats didn't get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
The Terriers are the tournament's No. 3 seed for the second straight year. BU is on a four-game tournament losing streak that dates back to the 2003 championship when the Terriers lost by one point, 56-55, to Vermont in the title game. BU has not advanced past the quarterfinals in the last three years.
BU hopes to snap a three-game losing streak with a win Saturday evening. The Terriers fell, 73-63, at Albany in the regular-season finale on Feb. 25. Albany opened the second half on a 10-4 run to extend its 36-32 halftime lead to 46-36 with 16:49 remaining. BU answered with a 16-2 rally and held a 52-48 edge with 10:28 left. But Jamar Wilson and Jon Iati combined to hit four 3-pointers to swing the lead back to Albany for good.
Binghamton is on a two-game win streak coming into Saturday's game. The Bearcats cruised past New Hampshire, 66-37, on Feb. 20 and edged Hartford, 55-53, on Feb. 22. Four Binghamton players scored in double figures, led by Trifunovic's 15-point/11-rebound double-double, against the Wildcats, while Steve Proctor had 17 points in the win over the Hawks.
