For Immediate Release: December 30, 2005
Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6800

Binghamton men's basketball falls to Utah State 81-47 in tourney final
Heard named to all-tournament team; Bearcats earn runnerup honors

Box Score

LOGAN, Utah. - Utah State (8-3) built a 19-point halftime bulge and rolled to an 81-47 win over Binghamton (3-9) in the championship game of the Utah State Gossner Foods Classic Friday night from Smith Spectrum. The Aggies remained perfect in their own tournament, improving to 24-0 with 12 straight titles.

The Bearcats were strong out of the gate, holding a 12-11 lead six minutes into the contest and playing to within six points, 23-17, halfway through the period. But Utah State embarked on a decisive 21-0 run spanning eight minutes, during which BU missed 12 consecutive shots and went scoreless for 9:06. The Aggies, who entered the game shooting 52% from the floor, shot 59% in the first half and 56% for the game.

"They were a superior team," head coach Al Walker said. "They are big, athletic, skilled and had great execution and we were overmatched significantly. I thought we learned a lot though. When we have experiences like this we find out how to improve."

Utah State was led by the tandem of Jaycee Carroll and Nate Harris. Carroll, the tournament MVP, totalled 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Harris produced 17 points on 5-of-6 marksmanship.

Senior guard Andre Heard (Oklahoma City, Okla.) scored a team-high nine points and was the team's lone representative on the all-tournament team. Freshman forward Ian Milne (Winkler, Manitoba) had another solid showing, scoring eight points in 27 minutes. Senior forward Sebastian Hermenier (Rockville, Md.) added seven points and five rebounds.

Binghamton now resumes its America East schedule, playing the first of 15 straight conference games Thursday at New Hampshire.