The Baruch College Bearcats pulled out a 76-72 season-opening home win against Birmingham Southern College on Tuesday night in the ARC Arena.

The visiting Panthers from Alabama jumped out to a 10-3 lead early, but the Bearcats quickly responded with a 16-2 run, capped off by consecutive threes from Dwayne Brydie and Georgios Zavos, to lead 19-12 midway through the first half.

From there, the two teams were close until the Panthers broke a tie at 22 by scoring eight of the last 12 points to lead at the half, 30-26.

The Bearcats scored the first five points after the break, but the Panthers took control again briefly by building a 42-35 advantage with under 15:00 minutes left.

Doyin Isaac took control by scoring 15 of his 18 points in the second half, while Chimaechi Ekekeughbor scored eight of his 16 points in the final four minutes to pull away for the quality non-conference home win.

Ekekeugbor finished with double-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks. Bryler Paige (13 points) and Brydie (10 points) also contributed in the win.

James McClean led the visitors from Birmingham with 16 points.

The Bearcats will hit the road this weekend to Buffalo, New York to compete in the Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery Tournament hosted by Medaille College. The Bearcats play Goucher College on Friday at 6 p.m.