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Hot-Shooting Binghamton Tops Maine, 71-53
ORONO, Maine-- Binghamton University's Andre Heard scored 26 points to lead the Bearcats to a 71-53 victory over Maine in men's basketball on Thursday night at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine. The Bearcats, who led by just three-points at the half, outscored Maine 35-20 in the second half to earn the victory.
"Binghamton made shots tonight," said Maine head coach Ted Woodward. "We knew that their guards had the ability to make shots and given our situation right now we felt like that is how we wanted to defend them and I give them credit. They have two players who have the ability to make those shots and stepped up and made those shots." The first half, which featured five ties and 14 lead changes, was close throughout. Maine took its biggest lead of the half, 18-14, with 11:35 remaining. Jon Sheets (Grass Valley, Calif.) drained a three-point field goal and Ernest Turner (Camden, N.J.) answered with a jumper. Binghamton answered with back-to-back three-point field goals by Andre Heard. The Bearcats took their biggest lead of the half, also four points, on back-to-back jumpers by Ian Milne and Steve Proctor. Ernest Turner answered with a three-pointer to pull Maine to within one point in the final minute. Sebastian Hermenier was fouled on a shot as time expired and converted the free throws as Binghamton took a 36-33 lead into halftime. Heard was the difference for Binghamton in the first half as he was 6-of-9 from the floor with 17 first-half points. Maine, which outshot Binghamton 48.1 percent to 45.2 percent, was led by Ernest Turner who had 10 points. The Bearcats came out in the second half and continued to drain shots from well behind the three-point arc. Binghamton began the half on a 15-5 run to extend its lead to lead to 13 points. The Bearcats then put together a 12-4 run to push the lead to 21 points. Binghamton shot 50 percent from behind the three-point arc in the half, hitting 6-of-12 shots. Maine found success in the half by going inside to Olli Ahvenniemi (Vaasa, Finland) who had 10 points in the second half alone. Binghamton, who improves to 6-9 on the season and 3-1 in America East play, was led by Andre Heard who had 26 points to lead all scorers. He was 9-of-15 from the floor, including 6-of-8 from three-point range, while Troy Hailey chipped in with 15 points, including three three-point field goals. The Bearcats shot 50 percent from three-point range in the game. Maine was led by Ahvenniemi who finished with a career-high 16 points. He was 8-of-10 from the floor, also grabbed a team-high six rebounds and had three blocks. Ernest Turner added 10 points, while Chris Bruff (Bloomfield, Conn.) finished with nine points. The Black Bears return to action on Sunday, January 15 when they host Vermont at 1:00 p.m. at Alfond Arena. Tickets are available by calling 581-BEAR or at the door.
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