BINGHAMTON, NY – Freshman Brendan O'Neill scored a try, added three goals and four  conversion kicks for a total of 22 points as he led the Nazareth College Rugby team to a 37-29 victory over Binghamton University Saturday afternoon in a battle of two of the top teams in the Eastern Division of the Liberty Rugby Conference.

O'Neill helped Nazareth (3-0) jump to an early lead with a pair of kicks for 3-point goals and the Golden Flyers led 6-0 in the first several minutes of action.

Sophomore Tyreik Thomas scored a try and O'Neill added the conversion to give Nazareth a 13-0 lead.

Binghamton (2-1) trimmed the lead with a try a few minutes later but missed the conversion kick and the Golden Flyers held a 13-5 edge.

O'Neill added another 3-pointer and Nazareth led 16-5 midway through the first half.

Binghamton scored twice in the closing minutes of the half but managed just one conversion kick and took a 17-16 lead into the halftime intermission.

The Bearcats scored early in the second half to extend their lead to 24-16 with a third consecutive try.

O'Neill scored a try and added the kick to bring Nazareth to within a point at 24-23 before junior Steven Beck gave the Golden Flyers the lead for good as O'Neill kicked another conversion for a 30-24 lead.

Binghamton scored a few minutes later but missed another conversion kick and Nazareth held the slim 30-29 lead.

With time running down to less than two minutes remaining, junior Kyle Decker scored on a pass from O'Neill and O'Neill capped his high-scoring day with a final conversion kick as Nazareth took the 37-29 lead and held the ball for the final minutes to seal the victory.

"I couldn't be more proud of the performance these young men displayed today," said Head Coach Taye Daniel-Ayibiowu. "The guys show week in and week out they're up for the challenge in competing at this D1 level. We are in a good place as we head into October and we look to take this momentum into next week's game against Cortland."

Nazareth will host SUNY Cortland Oct. 2 with a 1 p.m. game on the Upper Field on campus.