Binghamton’s Jimmy Gray netted 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help the Patriots down Corning West 52-46 Saturday in a makeup game for Friday’s snow day.

Binghamton (3-2) needed the big effort to wrestle the momentum and the lead away from the Vikings (2-3), who built a six-point lead with 3:23 left in the third quarter – after trailing nearly the entire first half.

“Jimmy Gray is as good as any guard in Section IV,” Corning West head coach Mike Johnston said. “We held him to five points at halftime and he exploded for 15 in the second half – 11 in the fourth quarter. That was the difference.”

After Caleb McCaig scored the game’s first basket a minute into the contest, Binghamton utilized a pesky defense to rattle off a 10-2 run and grab control. Gray led the Patriots with five points in the first quarter, while Fred Peterson added four points as Binghamton held a 14-8 lead heading into the second.

Binghamton’s shooters went cold in the second and West took advantage with a 10-0 run to take a 20-18 lead with 1:20 left before the half. Nick Dobson had four points during the run and McCaig closed it with a 3-pointer.

Binghamton scored the final four points of the half to take a 22-20 edge into the intermission.
West came out strong in the third quarter. McCaig covered the perimeter with two 3-pointers, while Dobson netted four and Austin Rose added three from the paint as the Vikings wrested a 34-28 lead.

“Caleb McCaig had a better second half, which was big,” Johnston said.

Binghamton again finished the quarter strong, closing the third with a 6-0 run off four points from Jon Rivera and two more from Gray following a steal.

“As soon as we substituted – they went on runs,” Johnston said. “We have to keep working on bringing the other players along in order to give our starters breaks.”

Gray led the Patriots in the fourth. Peterson finished with nine points and Kellar chipped in seven.

McCaig finished with 15 points, while Dobson added 13 points. Rose scored eight points and pulled down 14 rebounds.

“It was an even game throughout, until the fourth quarter when they outscored us 18-12,” Johnston said. “We’ve got as good a big guy around in Nick Dobson and we don’t get him enough touches. We also had three crucial turnovers at the end of the game.”

West will travel to Vestal Tuesday for a  7:15 p.m. contest, before starting the Coaches Vs. Cancer Tournament at noon Dec. 27 against Newark at Elmira Southside.




Boys basketball
STAC
Binghamton 52, Corning West 46
Binghamton (3-2)
Jon Rivera 3 0-0 6, Jimmy Gray 8 3-5 20, Dyan Ward 1 0-0 2, David Kellar 3 1-1 7, Anthony Sweet 2 0-0 4, Fred Peterson 3 3-6 9. Totals 21 8-15 52.
Corning West (2-3)
Ross Sidebottom 1 2-4 5, Nick Dobson 5 3-4 13, Austin Rose 3 2-3 8, Caleb McCaig 6 0-0 15, Kevin Childs 0 2-2 2, D.J. Veasey 1 1-2 3. Totals 16 10-15 46.
Binghamton    14 8 12 18 - 52
Corning West    8 12 14 12 - 46
3-point goals: Binghamton 2 (Kellar, Gray), Corning West 4 (McCaig 3, Sidebottom).