BANGOR — Kevin Little is a first-year college basketball player with an NBA attitude.

He has a quick trigger and a short memory.

Called upon to hit the biggest shot of the game Saturday, with Maine clinging to a precarious one-point lead, Little wasn’t thinking about his two previous misses, one of them an airball.

With 41 seconds remaining and the shot clock down to 7, Little stepped in to grab a Shaun Lawton pass at the right elbow and his shot rippled cleanly through the net. The Black Bears held on to beat Binghamton 67-64 before an announced crowd of 1,158 at the Cross Insurance Center.

“The confidence comes from Shaun and everybody else constantly driving and kicking it to me, that they believe in me. Shaun could have laid the ball up,” Little said of not hesitating to take his 18th and final shot of the game.

Lawton interjected: “You seen this guy play before?”

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Little has been playing virtually without rest lately. In his past five games, he is averaging 20 points while logging at least 35 minutes in each. On Saturday, he went the full 40, opening things up with a quick 10 points to help the Black Bears (3-21, 2-9 America East Conference) build a 37-24 halftime lead.

Binghamton (4-22, 3-8) switched to a zone press in the second half and forced eight Maine turnovers to get back in the game.

“That’s not a situation we’ve been in too often, where you’re in control of the game at halftime. We knew they were going to try and turn up the level of intensity,” Maine Coach Bob Walsh said. “It was a gutsy, tough win and hopefully our guys understand we’re tough enough to make those plays and to win games like that.”

Binghamton cut the lead to a single point on three occasions in the final 3 minutes. But Maine never let the Bearcats tie the score.

There were numerous big plays. Reserve center Christian Ejiga blocked a Romello Walker shot in the middle of the paint with 1:26 left and Maine ahead 57-56. Troy Reid-Knight hit a pair of free throws for his only points of the game with 14 seconds remaining.

Little sank his clutch 3-pointer and added two free throws with 6 seconds left, and Zarko Valjarevic sealed the win with two more from the charity stripe with 2 seconds remaining.

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“I don’t know what happens mentally if they take the lead. Now that’s a whole different ballgame,” Walsh said.

Binghamton won the first meeting 65-46, controlling the boards and the lane. On Saturday, Maine owned a 30-26 rebounding edge and outscored the Bearcats 26-22 in the paint.

“We were very immature in the first half offensively,” Binghamton Coach Tommy Dempsey said. “Our game plan was to throw it inside and be physical on the glass, and we didn’t get that done in the first half. You’re down by 13 on the road, it’s a difficult road back.”

Little made sure it was an impossible road back. And Maine was able to celebrate a third win in a trying season.

“They fought back and we responded,” said Lawton, a junior who scored 15 points. “That’s always a good feeling, especially the way the season’s going. “


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