ORONO – The Binghamton Bearcats rode the hot shooting of bookend junior guards Andre Heard and Troy Hailey to a third straight win over the University of Maine men’s basketball team.

Heard got the Bearcats going in the first half, Hailey took over in the second, and the two combined for 41 points Thursday night in Binghamton’s 71-53 victory over the Black Bears at Alfond Arena.

“They certainly had an offensive performance today,” said Bearcats coach Al Walker. “Those guys have the green light to take shots and we haven’t been making as many as we like, but we knew we were gonna make them at some point in time and that point in time was today.”

Heard and Hailey combined for nine 3-pointers as Binghamton shot 12-for-24 from behind the arc.

As hot as Heard was in the first half, Hailey was scalding to start the second. The Bearcats’ 6-foot-1 guard buried back-to-back 3-pointers from 23 and 25 feet and followed that with seven of Binghamton’s next nine points to fuel a 15-3 run in the first 61/2 minutes of the second half to build a 13-point lead (51-38).

“At halftime, Andre looked toward me and said, ‘I need some help,’ and I said, ‘I’m gonna see what I can do,’ and I came through for him tonight,” said Hailey, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.

It was a run the Bears couldn’t answer, despite a few opportunities to make a run of their own. With 8:44 to play, Freddy Petkus was fouled on a 3-point attempt but missed all three free throws. Seconds later, Jon Sheets intercepted a pass and sped down the court on the break but missed the layup. It was one of those nights.

“I think we kind of got away from some of the things that we had success from when those shots started going in,” said Maine coach Ted Woodward. “I think we took some shots we haven’t been taking as much and making some turnovers.”

Heard caught fire again late with three straight baskets – one his sixth 3-pointer of the game – as Binghamton padded the lead to 68-46 via a 12-4 run with four minutes left.

Junior center Olli Ahvenniemi led the 5-10 Bears, now 0-4 in America East play, with 16 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

“I was very happy with how he played. We’ve been waiting for that and I thought he did a great job,” said Woodward.

Ernest Turner had 10 points as Maine’s only other double-digit scorer.

“We came into the game and really felt that the Turner [Ernest and Rashard] boys and [Jon] Sheets were the keys, but to see their post go for 20 points in the first half was disappointing and surprising,” Walker said.

Heard led the 5-9 Bearcats (3-1 in AE) with 26 points.

“It’s tough. Heard killed us early and Hailey hit us late,” said Ernest Turner. “It’s basically one of those nights and you just have to kind of give them their due. They hit some big shots.”

The first half was a back-and-forth affair in which neither team led by more than four points and there were 13 lead changes.

Ernest Turner led the Black Bears with 10 points in the first half. Ahvenniemi had six points and five rebounds.

The Bears had a tough time stopping Heard in the first half as the 6-3 guard canned five of six 3-pointers for 17 points.

BEARCATS 71, BLACK BEARS 53

Binghamton (6-9) Maine (5-10)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hermenier 3 9 2 2 8 Bruff 3 3 9

Milne 4 7 0 1 9 Ahvniemi 8 10 0 1 16

Gordon 2 6 0 0 6 R.Turner 2 5

Hailey 6 11 0 2 15 E.Turner 4 10 0 0 10

Heard 9 15 2 2 26 Sheets 1 7 3

Jackson 0 1 0 0 0 Hight 0 1 0

Proctor 1 3 0 0 2 Petkus 1 4 2

Olomo 1 2 0 0 2 Scales 2 5 4

James 1 1 1 1 3 Cavnaugh 1 4

Montgmry 0 2 0 0 0

Totals 27 57 5 8 71 Totals 22 50 12 53

Binghamton 36 71

Maine 33 53

3-pt. goals – Binghamton (12-24): Hermenier 0-2, Milne 1-2, Gordon 2-5, Hailey 3-6, Heard 6-8, Jackson 0-1; Maine (4-17): Bruff 1-1, R. Turner 0-3, E. Turner 2-5, Sheets 1-5, Petkus 0-3

Attendance: 1,047