BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Caldwell University men's basketball team earned its first victory over a Division I team in the program's history with a 63-52 triumph over Binghamton University Monday night in the Binghamton Events Center. The Cougars, who were winless in 10 previous regular-season meetings with Division I opponents during their 28-year history, improve to 6-4 on the season. The Bearcats drop to 1-9.

In addition to the historic victory, senior guard Kevin Walker (Bayonne, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) scored his 1,000th career point on a driving layup in traffic with 10:10 remaining in the second half. Caldwell joins the University of the Sciences, who beat Drexel on Thursday, as Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference teams to defeat a Division I opponent in the last five days.

Caldwell started the game hot, scoring the first nine points of the game en route to a 19-9 lead with 8:36 left in the first half. The lead grew to as many as 13, 25-12 before the Cougars took a 28-16 advantage into halftime. Caldwell limited Binghamton to just six field goals in 21 attempts in the first half while shooting 42.9 percent. Senior forward Michael Balkovic (Neptune, NJ/St. John Vianney) scored nine points in the half to lead all players.

The Cougars maintained a 12-point lead into the second half until a three from Willie Rodriguez and a layup by Dusan Perovic made the score 34-27 Caldwell with 15:49 left in the game. But the Cougars responded by pushing the lead up to 17, 49-32 with nine straight points following a three from junior guard Salvatore Vitello (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) and a jumper by junior forward Billy McDonald (North Haven, CT/North Haven) at the 5:12 mark. The Bearcats came within eight points twice during the final two minutes of the game, but Caldwell made its free throws down the stretch to ice the game.

Walker scored 16 points and had six rebounds to lead the Cougars. He is the 17th player in team history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Balkovic and McDonald finished with 11 points apiece, while junior guard Dawan Lighty (Paterson, NJ/Kennedy) tallied nine points. Nick Madray, who hit three of Binghamton's 11 three-pointers on the night, led the Bearcats with 15 points.

The Cougars host Nyack College on Saturday, Dec. 13 in a CACC contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in the George R. Newman Center.