VESTAL, N.Y. – The University of Maine couldn’t overcome a massive disparity on the boards against Binghamton and the Bearcats notched their first conference win with a 60-46 men’s basketball victory Wednesday night.

The 5-8 Bearcats (1-1 in America East) outrebounded the Bears 19-7 on the offensive boards and 46-24 overall.

“I’ve been involved in coaching with over 600 games and it’s the largest rebounding deficiency I’ve ever seen, and I think that says an awful lot,” said Maine coach John Giannini. “They just really put it to us.”

Equally worrisome is the fact that Maine (8-4, 2-1) has now scored only 46 points in each of its last two conference games.

“Yeah, I think they’re both concerns,” he said. “This was difficult to explain. They are big and athletic, but it was really a manhandling. I have no idea why, because we outrebounded two very good teams in Florida State and UMass.

“It was our poorest game that I can remember.”

Maine’s Eric Dobson and Chris Markwood of South Portland led the Bears with 11 points apiece.

One of the few bright spots in Wednesday’s loss was the play of true freshman Olli Ahvenniemi, who helped hold Binghamton center Nick Billings in check over the final seven minutes.

“The tiny consolation is we were able to make a late run and Olli played wonderfully,” Giannini said. “He went head to head with Billings and played him even, and we made our run with him in the game.”

Billings, an America East all-conference second team pick last year and the AE defensive player of the year, finished with nine points, seven rebounds, and six blocks.

Alex Adediran led the Bearcats with 10 points and nine rebounds. Billy Williams also had 10 points.

BEARCATS 60, BLACK BEARS 46

Maine men (8-4) Binghamton (5-8)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Dubois 1 1 0 0 2 Hermenier 3 9

Campbell 2 4 0 0 5 Williams 4 10

Dobson 4 8 2 2 11 Billings 4 10 1 2 9

Reed 1 9 0 0 3 Bailey 1 8 4 7

Markwood 3 7 4 6 11 Carter 0 2 0

Hadjisotirov 1 3 0 0 3 Watson 0 0 0

Petkus 0 4 3 4 3 Karis 0 1 0

Flavin 3 10 0 0 6 Casseus 3 6 8

Ahvenniemi 1 3 0 0 2 White 2 5 7

Abediran 4 5 10

Totals 16 49 9 12 46 Totals 21 52 13 21 60

Maine 25 46

Binghamton 31 60

3-pt. goals ? Maine (5-21): Hadjisotirov 1-2, Campbell 1-3, Dobson 1-3, Markwood 1-4, Reed 1-5, Petkus 0-2, Flavin 0-2; Binghamton (5-19): Williams 2-3, Hermenier 1-2, Casseus 1-2, Bailey 1-6, Karis 0-1, White 0-3, Carter 0-2

Attendance: 1,549

Roanoke 90, St. Joseph’s 72

At Salem, Va., Jared Butler scored 19 points while Kevinn Hunter added 13 to help power Roanoke past St. Joseph’s.

Mike Stallings led the St. Joseph’s effort with 21 points while Leroy Gore contributed with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Steve Monteiro added 13 points while Noah LaRoche chipped in with 10.

St. Joseph’s (4-9) 72

Gore 7-2-17, LaRoche 4-0-10, Stallings 9-3-21, Mileski 1-0-2, Monteiro 5-2-13, Nelson 3-0-7, Looney 1-0-2, Mitchell, Paoletti, Schacht

Roanoke (6-3) 90

Hunter 6-1-13, Butler 7-2-19, Graffam 5-0-11, Hall 4-2-12, Crowder 3-0-6, Rutledge 2-0-5, Jackson 3-0-7, Zimmerman 1-0-3, Allen 2-1-7, Zurek 1-0-2, Milton 0-3-3, Wermuth 1-0-2, Winfield, Davis, Killen, Dawler

3-pt. goals: LaRoche 2, Gore, Monteiro, Nelson; Butler 3, Hall 2, Allen 2, Graffam, Rutledge, Jackson, Zimmerman

Halftime: Roanoke 43-35