Feb. 4, 2012
Box Score
VESTAL, N.Y. - Shooting 50 percent from the field, the Boston University men's basketball team opened with a 3-pointer and never looked back, earning a 68-53 victory at Binghamton on Saturday night. Snapping a two-game losing streak and claiming sole possession of third place in the America East standings, the Terriers improve to 12-13 (8-3 AE).
Seniors Matt Griffin and Darryl Partin finished with a game-high 13 points with Griffin hitting a season-high four 3-pointers on six attempts. Named BU's America East Player of the Game, redshirt-freshman Malik Thomas tallied eight points and a game-high six rebounds.
The Bearcats (0-23, 0-11 AE) shot 44.0 percent from the field but were forced into 17 turnovers in the loss. Robert Mansell contributed 13 points, while Binghamton's AE Player of the Game Ben Dickinson had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Leading 44-35 with 11:19 remaining in regulation, the Terriers went on a 17-6 run capped by a trey from Griffin at 5:27 to prevent any chance of a rally and to earn their sixth straight win over Binghamton.
BU opened the game on a 12-4 run over the first eight minutes of the contest with five different Terriers scoring. Griffin's 3-pointer at 2:27 extended the lead to 26-15 before Binghamton responded with five straight points.
Following Javon Ralling's layup and made free throw, Thomas hit a jumper to give BU a 28-20 advantage at halftime. The Terriers shot 40.9 percent from the field in the first half but were out-rebounded, 17-11.
The teams went back and forth in the second with Jimmy Gray hitting a 3-pointer to pull Binghamton within nine (44-35) at 11:19 after trailing by as many as 14 three minutes earlier. The Bearcats immediately called a timeout to set up the defense, but sophomore D.J. Irving found space to hit a jumper and ignite the BU run.
The Terriers finished the game 23-of-46 (.500) and 7-of-16 (.438) from behind the arc. More importantly, after shooting below 55 percent at the charity stripe the last two games, BU hit its first 12 attempts en route to a 15-of-19 (.789) performance.
Binghamton scored 32 points in the paint against the Terriers' 18 but could only manage three 3-pointers on 11 attempts (.273) while shooting 22-of-50 (.440) overall.
Improving to 18-5 all-time in the series against the Bearcats, BU will remain in the state of New York and next visit Albany on Monday (Feb. 6) with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
