While you were on winter break, the Bearcats finished up its out-of-conference schedule and began America East conference play. The break featured two great wins for the program, one at the Events Center against Albany and the other at the University of Miami. However, Binghamton sits in last place in the conference at the moment, punctuated by a terrible loss at Stony Brook and a monumental collapse against University of New Hampshire at the Events Center. Where will the Bearcats wind up as the season progresses? Stay tuned to Pipe Dream for all the latest updates.
Dec. 15 vs. LIU, 91-80 W
In perhaps the most remarkable offensive explosion the Events Center has ever seen, junior guard Richard Forbes led the Bearcats to 61 second-half points as BU overcame a 12-point deficit to extract revenge in this home-and-home series with the Blackbirds. Senior swingman Steve Proctor had 17 points, six assists and four steals, and classmate Troy Hailey had 19 points. The game, a 7 p.m.-start, lasted until almost 9:30 p.m., as the referees whistled 59 fouls between the two teams and five players fouled out. “When you don’t play good basketball, it’s a waste of time,” said an unusually emotional Al Walker after the game. “That was maybe the most important half we played all year … it’s a win I think we can build from.” The win snapped a three-game losing streak for BU.
Dec. 18 at North Florida, 79-51 W
Steve Proctor continued his hot streak with a career-high 26 points, and Jaan Montgomery stormed into the starting lineup with four blocks in only nine minutes as the Bearcats handily defeated the pesky Ospreys, one of the lowest-RPI teams in the country. Richard Forbes had 21 points in this tune-up for the biggest game on BU’s non-conference slate.
Dec. 20 at Miami, 79-74 W
In perhaps their best display of composed basketball in the program’s history, the Bearcats pulled together and pulled off this upset that garnered national attention. The Bearcats answered every clutch jumper the Hurricanes hit with buckets of their own down the stretch, and Troy Hailey showed the senior leadership the team has been lacking with a tremendous defensive rebound and two clutch free throws in the closing seconds. On the team’s biggest stage of the year, two new Bearcats shined bright: freshman Lazar Trifunovic displayed a wide array of low-post moves and a soft shooting touch (5-7 from the field), and Richard Forbes finished with a career-high 27 points in what he called his statement game. The win was BU’s third straight and its first win over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent ever.
Dec. 27 vs. Pepperdine (at Comcast Lobo Invitational), 90-83 L
A 19-5 second-half run propelled Pepperdine past Binghamton in the opening round of the Comcast Lobo Invitational at New Mexico. The Bearcats turned the ball over 25 times and gave up a season-high 90 points, wasting a career-high 22 points from Mike Gordon and a career-high 14 rebounds from Duane James. Richard Forbes was held scoreless in the homecoming game for junior forward Giovanni Olomo.
Dec. 29 vs. Alcorn St. (at Comcast Lobo Invitational), 78-65 W
The Bearcats bounced back from a sloppy loss with a consolation win over the Braves at the Comcast Lobo Invitational. Lazar Trifunovic had an impressive night, shooting 10-for-16 from the field and finishing with a career-high 25 points. Mike Gordon tied a tournament record with 11 assists.
Jan. 3 vs. UMBC (America East opening night), 73-71 L
Brian Hodges slashed to the rim, got bumped and drained a lay-up in the final seconds to give his Retrievers the decisive lead in the conference opener for both teams. The game was a nail-biter all the way through, but in the end it was a defensive error by Giovanni Olomo that allowed Hodges to win it. “We made no stops,” Walker said.
“We were supposed to beat ’em for sure,” said Trifunovic. “We cannot finish.”
Jan. 6 vs. Albany, 83-72 W
It seems Albany/Binghamton contests are always good, close games, and this was no exception. Despite being considerable underdogs to the defending conference champions, Binghamton outplayed Albany, bringing all kinds of optimism back to the Southern Tier. Richie Forbes lit it up from the field, hitting 8 of 12 field goals to finish with 25 points, but Jaan Montgomery’s defensive presence on the interior may have been the difference. “We challenged the boys [after the UMBC loss],” Walker said. “It’s a great win.”
“I got my knock back now,” Forbes added.
Jan. 9 at Stony Brook, 67-55 L
A notable amount of BU students made the drive to see the Bearcats put on one of the ugliest offensive performances in program history, as lowly Stony Brook imposed its will on the defensive end, causing 15 first-half turnovers for the Bearcats. SBU’s Ricky Lucas had 21 points, including a pair of back-to-back wide-open 3s that buried the hapless Bearcats.
Jan. 12 vs. Boston, 61-49 L
Binghamton’s starting five combined for just 27 points in the Bearcats’ poorest offensive performance of the season. “We have not even come close to figuring out how to win a game where you have to grind it out,” Walker said. “That’s hard … when the engine gets clicking, we’re going to be better. It just so happens that these last two games, the engine was sputtering.”
Jan. 13 at Maine, 69-64 L
In a battle for last place, the Bearcats handed Maine its first conference win of the season in yet another poor showing. Steve Proctor shot 1-for-8 from the field and the Bearcats were out-rebounded 40-32 by the Black Bears. Maine power forward Chris Bruff dominated the paint, shooting 8-for-12 from the field and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Jan. 15 at Hartford, 57-55 W
Junior point guard Mike Gordon slashed to the bucket and hit the go-ahead lay-up high off the glass with 0.1 seconds left to give the Bearcats a two-point victory — a carbon copy of last year’s 57-55 BU win at Hartford almost one year ago to the day, when Gordon’s last-second heroics made the difference as well. The Bearcats had 11 steals in this tight win.
Jan. 18 vs. New Hampshire, 75-72 L
In a collapse of epic proportions, Binghamton blew a comfortable 15-point lead with 15 minutes remaining against a young UNH team playing without second-leading scorer Mike Christensen; the loss put BU in sole possession of last place in the conference. UNH’s Blagov Janev caught fire in the second half, draining a few key 3-pointers, but BU simply handed this game to the Wildcats. “The entire group is not good enough, from the head coach all the way down,” Walker said. “We did not get it done, period. It was bad basketball. Everybody’s responsible.”
“It was like we dropped down and just surrendered,” Trifunovic added.
UNH head coach Bill Herrion held back laughter as he said, “They were really guarding us the first 25 minutes.”