After leaving Newark, New Jersey with a 69-55 victory over NJIT, the Bearcats’ latest America East (AE) road trip ended on Thursday night with a 87-80 loss to UMass Lowell. After a back-and-forth first period, BU’s shooting struggles from three-point range in the second half resulted in the visitors facing a double-digit deficit to the River Hawks. Despite a late surge of momentum, Binghamton was unable to complete the comeback.

“We fought back,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “We were able to take the lead, and when we were playing with the lead our inability to come up with some rebounds hurt us, and I thought we gave up some open shots. We fought, we never gave up, we gave ourselves an opportunity, but we just didn’t make enough shots down the stretch.”

After senior forward Tariq Balogun came up short inside for Binghamton (12-14, 4-9 AE) off the opening tipoff, UMass Lowell (18-7, 9-3 AE) got on the board after driving the ball to the rim. BU’s answer came in the form of three-pointer from junior guard Tymu Chenery. Not long after, Chenery grabbed a board and kept the rock down the court for two to make it 5-4. The River Hawks then mounted a six-point run, broken up by a Chenery layup that cut the River Hawks lead to 10-7.

“[Balogun] was sick today, and he just didn’t have the energy early on,” Sanders said. “We had some opportunities, but he didn’t have the energy to complete a lot of those.”

Trailing 15-9, BU looked to turn the tides with a senior forward Nehemiah Benson laying one in, followed by graduate student guard Symir Torrence knocking down back-to-back three-pointers to retake the lead at 17-15. Graduate student guard Dan Petcash then swished in another three-pointer to cap an 11-point run for the Bearcats which made it 20-15. The Bearcats’ offense stayed hot as freshman forward Gavin Walsh made a three-pointer and Chenery scored in the paint to make give the visitors a 27-23 lead. A five-point run from UMass Lowell soon tied things up at 34-34. The back-and-forth continued as BU trailed 38-36 at the end of the first half.

“When we brought [Walsh] in with [Benson], we did a good job of being aggressive,” Sanders said. “We had some good drives to the basket and then we got some offensive rebounds which gave us some second-chance points … [Chenery] had a few drives and made some plays, but we also made six three-pointers in the first half which opened it up a bit.”

After UMass Lowell netted the first two points of the second period, Binghamton got back on the board with a driving layup from senior guard Armon Harried. Binghamton continued to keep things close as Torrence hooked in a layup before Balogun finished a score of his own at the rim as the River Hawks still led 44-42. The Bearcats then started to lose control of the ball, going down 55-46 before Torrence drove the rock inside to cut the deficit to seven.

“When [Balogun] didn’t have the energy, [UMass Lowell] got loose in that stretch and that’s when they pushed the lead up,” Sanders said.

With BU down 62-48, a five-point run anchored by Walsh and Benson got BU within nine points. Sophomore guard Chris Walker then cut inside for two followed by Walsh connecting with Chenery down low who converted a three-point play for 67-60. BU’s comeback attempt continued with a mid-range jump shot from Walker followed by Torrence getting the rock to Benson to cut the River Hawks’ lead to 78-74. However, the effort was not enough to regain the lead. BU’s final points came after Chenery made a layup off a steal for 85-80 in favor of the River Hawks, but Binghamton failed to get the stop on the next play as UMass Lowell iced the game at the free throw line en route to a 87-80 victory.

“[UMass Lowell] hit a couple of threes in that stretch — also where we didn’t really mesh in the transition,” Sanders said.

Chenery and Benson combined for 44 of the Bearcats’ 80 points in the loss. Meanwhile, Torrence had a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists.

The Bearcats will begin their final two home-stands of AE play against Maine on Thursday, Feb. 29. Tip-off is set for 6:07 p.m. on the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.