It had the makings of a typical Binghamton University loss.
The Binghamton men’s basketball team went into halftime with a 19-point lead over the Quinnipiac Bobcats in its home opener Wednesday night. The Bearcats were shooting 58.6 percent from the field and already had three players in double figures.
But Quinnipiac went on a pair of runs to start the second half: first a 12-2 run out of the gate that cut the lead to nine, and another 12-3 run after Binghamton had extended its lead back to 15. Binghamton led by just six, at 58-52, with eight minutes and 56 seconds left.
In the past, this was a recipe for clear disaster. And the 4,019 fans on hand at the Events Center were all too familiar with this scenario as the looks on people’s faces asked, ‘Is this really happening again?’
But BU head coach Kevin Broadus called a timeout to calm his team down and the Bearcats responded with a 10-4 run. All 10 points came from sophomore Lazar Trifunovic, who went 11-for-12 from the free throw line in the final 1:28 to help the Bearcats hold on for the 88-75 victory.
‘I told them, we have got to grind it out,’ said Broadus, who earned his first win as the Bearcats’ coach. ‘We have to be the tougher team. Good teams like that are going to make runs, so I just told them don’t panic, we’ll be fine.’
Trifunovic, who finished with a game-high 24 points and added 10 rebounds, was the focal point of the offense.
‘I got a lot of touches early, but wasn’t making the shots,’ said the forward, who shot 4-for-9 in the first half and 5-for-8 in the second half. ‘I was making those same shots in the second half, that’s the only difference. ‘
A big difference in the game was also Binghamton’s 3-point shooting. Freshman Moussa Camara went 4-for-7 and senior Dwayne Jackson went 4-for-4 off the bench to help the team finish 9-for-12 from behind the arc. Camara finished with 14 points and Jackson with 12.
‘Tonight D.J.’s number was called, and he stepped up and was big,’ Broadus said. ‘How many teams do you know in America shoot 75 percent from three? When you shoot 75 percent from three, you are going to win a lot of games.’
And while the Bearcats lit up the nets from downtown, they also held Quinnipiac to 5-for-20, including 1-for-8 in the first half. The Binghamton defense, which is a big focus for this squad, especially since they gave up 97 points in the opening game, held the Bobcats to 37 percent shooting in the first half and 46 percent for the game.
The Bearcats stuck with a tight man-to-man defense the entire game, including spurts of a 2-2-1 full court press and some man-to-man full court pressure. Senior Mike Gordon had four steals while senior Richard Forbes added three to go along with his 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
Gordon and Forbes trapped guard Casey Cosgrove at the end of the first half, leading to a Gordon steal and an ensuing dunk to take the Bearcats into the break and leave the Events Center crowd on its feet.
‘It was actually a pretty weak dunk,’ Gordon said. ‘I never dunk the ball that soft, but after I missed that one early, I just wanted to make it.’
Gordon also acknowledged that he loves the press and the pressure defense Broadus has instilled.
‘I’ve been waiting for it for so long,’ he said. ‘I like to trap and most guys can’t handle the trap. It leads to steals and easy buckets.’
Gordon finished with 15 points and eight assists.
Gordon was just one of five Bearcats who finished in double figures on the night as Binghamton showed how dangerous their offense could be.
‘They run their offense well and Trifunovic is tough to handle in there because he can face you or score with his back to the basket,’ said Quinnipiac head coach Tom Moore. ‘And it’s tough to double him when you spot up four guys who can make shots.’
The Bearcats will hope to use the momentum from their first win of the season in their next game at host Chicago State, scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday.
‘We are going to take this win and run with it and get ready,’ Broadus said. ‘The mark of a good team is winning on the road and hopefully it will start Saturday.’