An injury-riddled 2025-26 campaign came to a close for the Binghamton men’s basketball team following a 74-67 victory in the regular-season finale over Maine.

Binghamton (8-23, 4-12 AE) got off to a hot start, recovering from a near turnover on the first possession before senior guard Wes Peterson Jr. hit a three-pointer from the key. Soon after, junior forward Zyier Beverly hit a layup and the Bearcats continued to build their lead to 9-4 with a pair of mid-range shots from junior guard Jeremiah Quigley before the first media timeout.

Consecutive three-pointers from Maine (8-22, 6-9 AE) cut its deficit to just three, but graduate student guard Jackson Benigni kept the Bearcats ahead with a make from beyond the arc. After a few scoreless minutes of play, redshirt sophomore forward Stephan Snagg padded the Bearcats’ advantage with a layup to make it 18-10.

Binghamton’s offense cooled slightly with three consecutive missed shots, as Maine used a pair of layups to bring themselves within four of their hosts. A scrum saw both teams be awarded technical fouls and Beverly ejected from the match, leaving the Bearcats with a five-man rotation. After each team shot their respective free throws, freshman guard Jake Blackburn hit a corner three and Quigley added a pair of buckets to give Binghamton a 27-18 lead. The Black Bears began to find their shot, cutting into Binghamton’s deficit, but a three-pointer from Peterson with a minute left in the half and a buzzer-beating jumper had the Bearcats ahead 34-27 at halftime.

The first points of the second half went to the Bearcats courtesy of a layup from Blackburn. After a layup from the Black Bears, Quigley sank a jumper and the ensuing and-one. Binghamton continued to lead, with a three-pointer from Blackburn and a pair of baskets from Quigley making it 46-36.

Maine added four consecutive points after forcing a turnover, but Benigni ended the run before it began with a corner three. Peterson soon found Snagg on an alley-oop, then added two free throws to put the Bearcats ahead 55-43 before a media timeout.

Exiting the timeout, the Black Bears forced a turnover and hit a deep three-pointer, but a contested jumper from Quigley and a corner three from Blackburn slowed their momentum. After another media timeout, Quigley’s jumper forced an and-one, which he comfortably hit to put the Bearcats ahead by 15.

Maine, however, then embarked on a 14-0 run, holding Binghamton scoreless for over five minutes. Their run came to an end with a key three-pointer from Benigni and an emphatic dunk from Snagg kept the Bearcats ahead. After a single Maine free-throw, Benigni drilled another three-pointer and the Bearcats closed out the match with three successful free throws while holding Maine to just one basket in its final four shot attempts, claiming the 74-67 victory.

Despite the win, Binghamton’s playoff dreams came to an end after Bryant defeated NJIT on Saturday, eliminating the Bearcats from contention for the eighth and final seed in the America East Tournament.

“We knew how big this game was but we talked about sending our seniors off the right way,” Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders told BUBearcats.com. “We played a monster game and [Peterson and Benigni] had a big part in it. We made some shots and controlled our turnovers. We knew we could spread the floor and make shots.”

Binghamton closed the season with an 8-23 record overall, going 4-12 in America East play. Nine of the squad’s 13 scholarship players missed multiple games due to injury, with seven suffering season-ending injuries. All-conference selections are expected to be released following the America East’s last men’s basketball match day on Tuesday, March 3.