Time ran out on the Canisius College men's lacrosse team's comeback attempt as Binghamton held on for a 13-12 victory on Tuesday night. The loss drops the Griffs to 3-5 on the season, while the Bearcats improve to 4-6.

“We knew this game was going to be a battle,” said Canisius head coach Randy Mearns. “We came out strong in the first quarter but had some breakdowns in the second that put us in a hole. We had a strong second half with Steven Coss winning us the ball and the offense starting to hit their shots. We just ran out of time in the end.”

Junior Jeff Edwards and sophomores Connor Kearnan and Ryan McKee each tallied four points on the night to lead the Canisius attack. McKee scored a career-best four goals, while Kearnan netted a hat trick to go with one assist and Edwards registered a personal-best four assists for the second-straight game.

Senior Nick Tuttle also added a hat trick for the Griffs, while senior Vince Gravino and junior Lewis Vaccaro added a goal.

Sophomore Liam Ganzhorn stopped 12 shots between the pipes. Classmate Steven Coss posted a strong day at the faceoff X, winning 14-of-24 restarts.

Canisius got off to a strong start in the contest but for the third-straight game, it was the second period that put the Griffs behind. Canisius outscored the Bearcats, 3-2, in the opening frame with Kearnan finishing the scoring in the period with a goal off the hidden-ball trick. However, Binghamton answered with five goals in the second quarter, while holding the Griffs without a tally, for a 7-3 halftime lead.

Each team netted three times in the third quarter as Binghamton headed into the final frame with a 10-6 advantage. However, after Binghamton netted the first goal of the fourth, Canisius nearly rallied from the five-goal deficit with a 6-2 run. McKee led the comeback with three tallies in the period and started the rally with a transition goal before being followed by Gravino for the 11-8 score. Binghamton reclaimed its four-goal lead only to see Tuttle and McKee score back-to-back goals for the 12-10 game.

Binghamton seemingly put the game out of reach with a tally for a 13-10 lead with just 2:09 remaining but Canisius continued to fight back. McKee netted his fourth goal of the game with 35 ticks remaining and Kearnan scored a man-up tally with just five seconds left in regulation. Edwards won the ensuing faceoff but Vaccaro's shot from midfield was off target and Binghamton held on for the 13-12 victory.

The Bearcats outshot the Griffs, 48-34, on the night and held a slight advantage in ground balls, 25-21. Johnny Maher led Binghamton with five points on a goal and four assists with Sam Sanko making 12 saves in net.

Canisius returns to conference play on Saturday with a matchup again the lone remaining unbeaten team in the MAAC, Quinnipiac. The schools are set to meet in Hamden, Connecticut with a noon faceoff.

Game Notes: Canisius has allowed an opponent to score five-straight goals in each of the last four contests … Edwards is the first Griff with at least three points in seven-straight games since Adam Jones in 2010 … Nick Tuttle scored a man-down goal in the third quarter – the first Griff with a man-down tally since Jones against Hobart on April 21, 2009 … Sophomore Cody Filson registered his first collegiate point with an assist in the fourth quarter … Binghamton now leads the all-time series with the Griffs, 5-1.