For Immediate Release: March 2, 2008
Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6800

BU men's basketball receives No. 5 seed for America East tourney
Bearcats will face #4 Vermont in March 8 quarterfinal at Events Center

America East release

VESTAL, N.Y. -- Binghamton (14-15, 9-7 AE) has earned the No. 5 seed for the upcoming America East tournament, and will face fourth-seeded Vermont in a quarterfinal game at 2:30 on Saturday, March 8. Binghamton will host the first three rounds of the championship at the Events Center.

With Sunday's 49-44 win at Stony Brook, the Bearcats enter the tournament having won four of their last five games. The team's 9-7 final conference record was a three-game improvement over last year's 6-10 mark, and equaled Binghamton's second-best America East win percentage in the program's seven-year Division I tenure (.563).

"I'm excited for the tournament, " head coach Kevin Broadus said. "We've got a tough game because Vermont has beaten us twice. They are a very good ballclub. But our guys are up for it."

Vermont, which lost four of its last seven but beat Maine on Sunday, grabbed the No. 4 seed over Binghamton by virtue of its regular-season sweep of the Bearcats. The Catamounts are 13-3 all-time against BU, including a 5-1 mark in the Events Center. Vermont knocked off BU 81-70 in Burlington on January 3 and then posted a 73-68 win on February 6 in Vestal.

Binghamton is 2-4 in four trips to the America East Championship. The Bearcats advanced to the semifinals in 2005 and 2006, losing to Vermont each year. Last season, #6 BU lost to third-seeded Boston University, 62-58, in the quarterfinals.

Regular-season champion UMBC (13-3) will carry the top seed into the tournament, and will face the winner of Friday's first-round game between #8 Stony Brook and #9 Maine.

Hartford and Albany tied for second with identical 10-6 marks, but the Hawks secured the No. 2 seed with their win over UMBC on Sunday. Albany, the two-time defending league champions, will be the No. 3 seed and will play sixth-seeded Boston for the second time in six days. Albany knocked off the Terriers on Sunday.

Binghamton is hosting the nine-team tournament for the third time in the last four years. The school drew 13,221 fans for the 2006 championship and 15,977 for the 2005 event. Those figures represented the top two draws in the last six years of the tournament. Binghamton has led the America East in attendance five consecutive years, and is averaging 3,547 this season - an increase of more than 300 fans more per game from a year ago.

Tournament Schedule (all games played at Events Center)

Friday, March 7 - Session I - First Round
Game 1 - No. 8 Stony Brook (6-22) vs. No. 9 Maine (7-22) at 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 8 - Quarterfinals
Session II
Game 2 - No. 1 UMBC (21-8) vs. 8/9 winner at 12:05 p.m.
Game 3 - No. 4 Vermont (15-14) vs. No. 5 Binghamton at 2:30 p.m.*

Session III
Game 4 - No. 2 Hartford (16-15) vs. No. 7 New Hampshire (9-19) at 6:05 p.m.
Game 5 - No. 3 Albany (15-14) vs. No. 6 Boston Univ. (13-16) at 8:30 p.m.*

Sunday, March 9 - Session IV - Semifinals
Game 6 - Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 at 12:04 p.m. (America East TV)
Game 7 - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 at 2:34 p.m. (America East TV)

* game will start 30 minutes following conclusion of first game

NOTE
Semifinal winners will advance to the March 15 America East championship game, which will be hosted by the highest remaining seed and televised on ESPN2 at noon. The winner receives the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Ticket Information
1) All-session passes are still available for $52 by calling 607-777-6004.

2) Individual Session tickets will go on sale Monday, March 3 at 9 a.m. For Session I, tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for America East school undergraduate students. For Sessions II, III and IV, tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for America East school undergraduate students.

To purchase tickets, visit the Events Center Box office, call 607-777-6004 or online at www.bubearcats.com.