VESTAL, N.Y. (Interstat) — Two America East men’s basketball teams seeking to halt prolonged slides will meet Thursday night when the New Hampshire Wildcats visit the Binghamton Bearcats at the Events Center. Both squads enter on significant losing streaks. New Hampshire (8-18, 3-8 America East) has dropped five straight games since its last win on Jan. 29. Binghamton (6-23, 2-10) has lost eight of its last nine contests, with its sole victory in that span coming at Bryant on Feb. 19. The matchup is a rematch of a triple-overtime thriller from Jan. 22, which the Wildcats won 88-82 in Durham. That result extended New Hampshire’s winning streak in the series to three games. A key player for the Wildcats is forward Belal El Shakery, who is coming off a double-double performance in a narrow 61-58 home loss to Maine on Saturday. El Shakery logged 35 minutes, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Over his last seven games, he has averaged 10.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per contest. The Bearcats will look to guard Wes Peterson to provide a scoring spark. Peterson is coming off a season-high 21-point effort in a 92-79 loss at UMass Lowell on Saturday, playing the full 40 minutes. His production has been variable, but his high-usage role is central to Binghamton’s offense. Statistically, the game pits two of the conference’s lower-scoring offenses. Both teams have struggled defensively as well, with Binghamton allowing a league-worst 78.2 points per game in conference play, while New Hampshire yields 74.5. With the America East tournament approaching, both teams are desperate to build momentum. A win for New Hampshire would keep them in contention for a higher seed, while Binghamton aims to climb out of the conference cellar. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. Binghamton will host Maine on Saturday, while New Hampshire travels to face Albany.