Coming off its win against New Hampshire, the Binghamton men’s basketball team will look to continue its climb up the America East standings this weekend.

The Bearcats will travel to Stony Brook to take on the Seawolves at 4 p.m. Saturday in a battle of America East foes.

The Bearcats, now 11-11 on the season and 8-3 in conference play, are riding a two-game winning streak, and have won eight of their last 10 games. Stony Brook, which is 4-17 overall and 2-9 against America East competition, has lost eight of 10, a stretch that started with a loss to Binghamton in January at the Events Center.

This matchup will be very different than the last time these teams clashed. During the last meeting, both teams were struggling with a combined 6-18 record and were just trying to stay afloat. But the Bearcats have turned their season around, now sitting in second place in the conference, while the Seawolves have continued to struggle, and remain in the America East cellar.

With the leadership of seniors Andre Heard and Sebastian Hermenier, the Bearcats have played very well as of late. The defense has continued to be Binghamton’s strong point and the offense has started to click as well, creating more reason for optimism. In the win over New Hampshire, Heard notched his eighth 20-point game of the season, and is now averaging 16.5 points per contest.

Stony Brook has been led by sophomore Mitchell Beauford, who has averaged 15.5 points in 15 games since returning to the lineup from an injury, and junior Mike Popoko, who has averaged 10.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

Despite the difference in records, it has become clear that in a conference with so much parity, any team can beat any other team on a given night. With first place still within reach for the Bearcats, they must continue to win games against teams at the bottom of the conference.

Head coach Al Walker isn’t looking past this game and knows Stony Brook’s crowd and guards could cause problems for his team.

“Stony Brook is terrific at home, even though their record doesn’t reflect that,” Walker said. “They’re playing with a lot of energy at home. We had some trouble with their guards; it’s a tough game for us.”

With a win, the Bearcats would move above .500 for the first time this season. It would be the first time they had a winning record this late in the year since they were 12-11 in 2003.