It may be clich√É.√© to say it’s tougher to win on the road, but for the Binghamton University men’s basketball team, the saying has certainly been proved true this season.
The Bearcats (11-14, 6-4 America East) fell on the road to conference foe University of Maine (15-8, 7-3 AE) this past Saturday, 61-49, in the first of a four-game road swing. The teams were battling for sole possession of third place.
Maine led 50-49 with just 2:40 to play in the second half. However, the Bearcats missed all their field goal attempts and free throws down the stretch, while Maine went six-of-eight from the free throw line during an 11-0 run to end the game.
“It was a tough game,” said Binghamton interim head coach Mark Macon. “They’re a tough team. This year they are one of the teams that have our number in terms of what they do.”
Maine completed the season sweep of Binghamton, which included the 66-61 victory at the Events Center on Jan. 10. Maine was picked to finish eighth in the conference in a preseason poll, but now sit in third place with a 7-3 AE record.
“[Maine] played to the last second; we just couldn’t finish it out,” Macon said. “[Maine] played very smart. They stuck to what they do best: they went to the free throw line and they hit some key shots.”
Junior forward Mahamoud Jabbi led Binghamton with 12 points and nine rebounds. He is averaging 5.9 points and leads the team in rebounds per game with 6.3.
Maine built a 25-22 halftime lead as junior Terrance Mitchell had 14 points, including four-of-seven from 3-point range. The Black Bears led at the half despite 30 percent shooting from the floor. The Bearcats, however, shot 32 percent and went a dismal one-for-nine from 3-point range in the first half, and finished three-for-13 from downtown for the game.
Macon said the mood of the team was a somber one after dropping an important conference game, of which there are only six left before the conference tournament, and his own demeanor was no exception.
“[It was] very quiet on the bus,” he said. “I myself am drained emotionally and physically … I’m always thinking what we could have done to play better … We’re supposed to feel bad after a loss when we had a chance to win the game.”
The Bearcats have struggled on the road all season long, accumulating a 4-11 record away from the Events Center. Two of those road wins were conference victories, and the Bearcats are in the midst of a four-game road conference swing.
“We have to work on closing out games; we still can’t close on the road,” Macon said. “There are a number of things that account for it but we have to put the work in. We tend to play with our emotions and not our heads.”
In the same vein, the Bearcats have been struggling with fouls recently. Against Maine, forward Pina Guillaume fouled out and Mahamoud Jabbi and forward Greer Wright each had four fouls. In the previous matchup with New Hampshire, Wright and freshman guard Dylan Talley had four fouls apiece. Against Vermont on Jan. 24, Wright and junior guard Chretien Lukusa both fouled out while two additional players, Jabbi and Guillaume, once again accumulated four fouls.
“The disparity of them, sometimes as a coach can get you frustrated,” Macon said, referring to the inconsistency in referee calls. “I have to be better with myself and hopefully we can be in a better situation.”
The Bearcats won’t return home until Feb. 21; they are scheduled to face New Hampshire next to continue the road stretch. Binghamton defeated the Wildcats at home in their previous matchup, 76-73 in overtime. But Macon expects a different game this time.
“I told the guys teams are gonna make adjustments,” he said. “We have to make them also. Other guys have to step up and score; we’ve shown what we can do, and they have to take it upon themselves to score and try to make good plays … We want to go in with a game plan to win the game; we want to be able to pull that game out.”
Despite the most recent loss and the grind of the road schedule, Macon and his squad remain positive no matter what happens.
“You have to see day-to-day,” he said. “Different teams, different attitudes, it’s day-to-day with how we are gonna do; [We have] crazy bad practices, we have good games. I have yet to be able to read them, but they are always upbeat.”
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Thursday at New Hampshire.