Camara's 20 Rebounds, Leissner's 20 Points Lifts 'Cats Past Binghamton, 57-52

Saturday, January 27

Vestal, NY

4 PM

University of New Hampshire

9-13, 5-3AE

Binghamton University

10-13, 1-7AE

New Hampshire

Binghamton Univ.

Photo by: Tim Casey

Camara's 20 Rebounds, Leissner's 20 Points Lifts 'Cats Past Binghamton, 57-52

1/27/2018 7:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

VESTAL, N.Y. – Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal) recorded 20 rebounds and Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) scored 20 points to lift the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team to Saturday afternoon's 57-52 victory against Binghamton University at Events Center.

With UNH leading 55-52, Camara pulled down his 20^th rebound of the game off the defensive glass with four seconds remaining and Leissner hit two free throws with 0.8 on the clock to secure the victory.

Camara matched his career highs in both rebounds and blocks (three); he also had seven points, including two when he both ends of the 1-and-1 from the foul line with 1:13 remaining to give UNH a 52-50 lead.

Binghamton was led by Tyler Stewart (14p) and Willie Rodriguez (10p, 7r).

UNH, which completed the series sweep of Binghamton for its ninth straight win in the series, improved to 9-13 overall and 5-3 in America East. The Bearcats are now 10-13, 1-7.

LOOKING AHEAD

New Hampshire returns to action Jan. 31 at home against the University of Hartford. Game time at Lundholm Gym is 7 p.m.
Tickets for all home games are available online at www.unhwildcats.com or by calling (603) 862-4000.

DOWN THE STRETCH

UNH closed the game on a 16-4 run the last five minutes of the game to rally for its second road win of the season.
With the Wildcats trailing 48-41, Leissner hit a pair of free throws at 5:09 and Camara followed that with a layup to lift New Hampshire within 48-45 at 4:25.
Leissner hit two more foul shots to close the gap to one point, 48-47, at 2:11.
Binghamton answered with two FTs at the other end of the court to reestablish a three-point cushion.
UNH, 5-for-25 from 3-point range at this juncture, tied the game at 50 with 1:42 remaining when Jordan Reed (Lucas, Texas) connected from beyond the arc on the left wing.
The Bearcats missed two free throws and Camara was fouled when he pulled down the defensive rebound. He proceeded to hit both ends of the 1-and-1 bonus at the line to give UNH a 52-50 lead with 1:12 to play.
Tyler Stewart's driving layup tied the score at 52 with 48.9 seconds on the clock and the Bearcats called time out.
With UNH's shot clock winding down, Reed nailed another 3-pointer, this time from the right wing, to give the Wildcats a 53-50 lead with 21.4 to play.
The visitors called a timeout and excellent defensive pressure forced J.C. Show into a tough 3-point attempt from the right sideline that caromed of the rim.
Camara pulled down the rebound with four seconds to go and passed the ball to an open Leissner, who was fouled in the last second and made two FTs to seal the win. He finished the game 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.

GAME RECAP

UNH took an early 8-3 lead on 3-pointers by Josh Hopkins (Greensboro, N.C.) and Darryl Stewart (Atlanta, Ga.), as well as a jumper from the right corner by Leissner.
Binghamton responded with an 8-0 run to take an 11-8 lead at 13:10, and a Timmy Rose 3-pointer gave the Bearcats a 15-10 advantage at 9:50.
With the Wildcats trailing 19-15, Hopkins drove the left baseline for a layup, Stewart hit one foul shot and John Ogwuche (Makurdi, Nigeria) made two free throws to put New Hampshire back in front, 20-19, at 4:57.
The teams traded scores the next four minutes to push the score to 25-24 in favor of the home team.
UNH closed the half on a 4-0 run in the last minute, including a David Watkins (Dorchester, Mass.) long 3-pointer from the top of the key, to take a 28-27 lead into the locker room.
The Bearcats scored the first three points of the second half to tie the score, but then Leissner and Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal) both scored on the right blocks to put UNH back ahead, 32-28, at 17:52.
Show's 3-pointer capped a 7-0 run that gave the home team a 35-32 lead at 16:18.
Ogwuche answered with a 3-pointer from the right wing to tie the score, but Binghamton surged back in front, 40-35, at 13:23.
The Wildcats retook the lead, 41-35, at 10:32 on Leissner's 3-pointer from the left wing.
The series of runs continued, this time with the Bearcats scoring eight straight points to take a 48-41 lead at 5:22.
Leissner's free throws ended UNH's scoring drought of 5 minutes, 45 seconds and trimmed the deficit to 48-43 at 5:09, and ignited the Wildcats' comeback victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

New Hampshire finished with the 44-37 rebounding edge.
UNH recorded a season-high six blocks.
The Wildcats were 16 of 22 from the foul line, including 9 of 11 in the second half; in comparison, the Bearcats were 10-for-19 overall and 6-for-13 in the second half.
Binghamton was held 20 points below its season average of 72.3 ppg. The Bearcats entered with a .464 field goal percentage but was limited to .345 by the Wildcats.
In trends, UNH is now 5-2 on Saturday, 7-3 in day games and 8-4 when leading at the half.
UNH was 2-for15 from 3-point range in the second half until Reed swished a pair through the net in the last two minutes of the game.
The Wildcats won despite recording its second-lowest shooting field goal percentage of the season at 32.7%.

UNH NOTEBOOK

Leissner became the second UNH Wildcat to score 1,800 career points. He has 1,804 and trails only all-time leader Al McClain (1980-84) at 1,861.
On the America East leaderboard, Leissner is now No. 20 in career points (1,804); he surpassed Justin Bailey (Hartford, 1995-99; 1,786 pts).
Leissner extended his program records for free throws made (491) and attempted (634).
Camara, UNH's all-time leading rebounder, increased his record total to 924.
Camara is now tied for No. 8 on the career games played list at 113 with Dirk Koopman (1982-86) and Greg Steele (1983-87).
Armstrong is on the verge of becoming the 33^rd UNH Wildcat to reach the 1,000-point milestone. He has 986 career points.
Hopkins scored all nine of his points in the first half.
UNH used its 11^th different starting lineup of the season with guards Hopkins, Ogwuche and Stewart combined with forwards Camara and Leissner.