Bearcat fans got a sneak preview of the Binghamton University men’s basketball season when the Bearcats trounced Buffalo State last week.
Friday night at the Events Center, BU toppled the Division III Bengals, 102-64, in an exhibition game.
Junior transfer D.J. Rivera led Binghamton with 21 points, and thrilled the crowd with some impressive dunks and hustle plays.
Senior center Jaan Montgomery was a force in his time on the floor, scoring 11 points and eight rebounds in just 17 minutes. In one sequence in the first half, Montgomery blocked two Bengal shot attempts on defense, and then ran the floor to collect an offensive rebound and put-back on a Binghamton miss.
“We’re trying to learn to play around the big fella,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin Broadus. “That’s my goal right now, because he’s going to help us down the line.”
Broadus played his bench players for most of the second half. When the Bearcats led 97-64 near the end of the game, students in the BU Zoo chanted, “three more points!” Senior Dwayne Jackson drained a 3-pointer to get the Bearcats to the century mark. He finished with 16 points on six of seven shooting (four of five 3-pointers).
Local walk-on freshman Matt Mullins entered the game midway through the second half and got a warm reception from the crowd. When he knocked down a 3-pointer on his first shot of the game, the Events Center erupted for the loudest cheers of the night.
Binghamton’s point guard play was impressive, as starter Emanuel Mayben and his backup David Fine combined for 19 assists and just six turnovers. But Broadus saw defensive deficiencies in the Bearcats’ play that he hoped to correct by Monday’s season opener.
“I wasn’t totally satisfied with what happened tonight defensively,” he said. “We had a few breakdowns that we can’t have against really good teams.”
The second-year coach also began his post-game speech with an apology to the community for the actions of Malik Alvin last month.
“I want to apologize first to our community, fans, University, president and athletic director for the off-court behavior we’ve had last month,” Broadus said. “I was brought here to bring a program to another level, and that’s what I’m here to do. I, as coach, under my tenure, don’t plan to have any more hiccups and things off the court like that. And we’ll deal with them, we won’t tolerate them, and we’ll have very little tolerance for off-the-court bad behavior.”