Sophomore Bryan Dougher scores a game-high 21 points.Audio/Video Highlights
Final Stats
Vestal, N.Y. - Sophomore Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) scored a team-high 21 points including the game-tying three with nine seconds left but Greer Wright hit the game-winning jumper with two seconds remaining to give the Binghamton Bearcats a 64-62 victory over the Stony Brook University men's basketball team in America East Conference action on Tuesday night at the Events Center. Stony Brook falls to 11-6 overall and 3-1 in the America East with the loss.
"We played well in stretches tonight," Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said. "But we didn't play well enough on the defensive end of the court to win a conference game on the road."
Dougher knocked down seven of his 12 three-point attempts for the Seawolves, who also got 16 points from senior Muhammad El-Amin (Lansing, Mich.). El-Amin was named Stony Brook's America East Player of the Game. Wright scored 27 points to lead the Bearcats.
The Seawolves trailed by five with two minutes left before junior Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) completed a three-point play to cut the Binghamton lead to two. But Wright answered with a floater in the lane to push the Bearcat lead back to four.
Following a Binghamton timeout, Dougher drilled a three from the left corner to bring SBU within one. Wright hit one of two free throws with 35 seconds left, giving Stony Brook the ball down by two. The Seawolves got the ball to El-Amin, who was called for an offensive foul with 18.2 seconds left.
Wright then hit one of two free throws to push the Bearcats lead to three. The Seawolves worked the ball to Dougher, who drilled a three from 30 feet out to tie the game at 62. Wright took the ball the length of the court though, knocking down an off-balance jumper from the right elbow for the final points of the game.
Dougher nearly won the game for the Seawolves in the closing seconds, as he let fly a shot from just behind midcourt as the buzzer expired. But the ball just rimmed out, giving the Bearcats the victory.
Binghamton jumped to an early 10-4 lead behind seven points from Wright but El-Amin knocked down a three from the right wing to kick start a 7-0 run that gave the Seawolves a one point advantage. With the scored tied at 12, senior Andrew Goba (Durban, South Africa) hit a short jump hook and El-Amin then converted a reverse lay-up to push the SBU lead to four.
A Dougher three pushed the Stony Brook lead to seven before Chretien Lukusa snapped a five-minute scoreless drought for the Bearcats with a three-point play. Binghamton eventually closed to within two but Dougher answered by banking in a three from the left wing with the shot clock winding down to put SBU up 24-19 with four minutes remaining. The Bearcats scored 12 of the final 16 points of the half though to take a 31-26 lead into the break.
Stony Brook quickly erased its five-point halftime deficit, opening the second half on a 12-4 run to take a 38-37 lead. Binghamton answered with six straight points to regain its five-point advantage but Dougher responded with a three from the left corner to make it 43-41.
But Binghamton came back with a 7-2 run to take a 50-43 lead with nine minutes remaining in the game. The Bearcats still led by seven with just under six minutes to go before Martin got free for a lay-up.
El-Amin then hit a fade-away jumper to cut Stony Brook's deficit to three. Wright knocked down an off-balance three from the top of the key on the Bearcats next possession but Dougher drilled a three on the other end to make it 56-53 with four minutes left.
Stony Brook returns to action on Saturday, traveling to take on Maine. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
