Sergio El Darwich led four players in double figures with a game high 26 points Sunday afternoon, to lead the Maine Black Bears to their second straight men’s basketball America East win by taking down Binghamton 86-63 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Binghamton (7-11, 1-4 America East) took the early five point lead on a Sam Sessoms jumper and a three-pointer by Brenton Mills. A jumper by El Darwich though 5:26 into the first half gave Maine a 7-5 lead, and they never trailed again. With the score 11-10 Black Bears, the hosts went on a 17-4 run capped off with a three-pointer by El Darwich to make it 28-14. Maine opened the margin to as many as 18, and led 46-33 at the break.
Maine (6-13, 2-3) opened the second half on a 12-5 spurt making it 58-38 on a Andrew Fleming jumper, and never looked back. The Bears never let the lead get under 14 points, going up as many as 28 on the first career three-pointer with 1:33 to go from former George Stevens Academy standout Taylor Schildroth.
El Darwich added five rebounds, nine assists, and three steals in the Maine win. He shot 11-16 from the field (4-5 three-pointers). Fleming had 15 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Nedeljko Prijovic finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Stephane Ingo also got into double figures with 13 points and seven rebounds. The Black Bears shot 53.1% from the floor, and 10-25 (40%) from three-point range. Sessoms had 21 points, four assists, and three steals in the loss for Binghamton. Javon Brown had 12 points, and Mills finished with 11. The Bearcats drop to 1-7 on the road this season. Maine will host the top team in the conference in the Vermont Catamounts on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
