The sports jackets came off early in a heated matchup as Binghamton University men’s basketball head coach Kevin Broadus returned to his former place of employment to face his friend and mentor, George Washington University head coach Karl Hobbs, and his Colonials on Wednesday night.
The Colonials took advantage of their superior size, leaving the Binghamton squad to lick its wounds and drop the game, 71-57. Binghamton defeated George Washington last season at the Events Center, 71-59.
Binghamton opened up the scoring with a layup from junior D.J. Rivera, but it was the last lead the Bearcats would have as George Washington proceeded to go on an 11-0 run, aided by three Binghamton turnovers.
“We came out in the beginning a little sluggish,” Broadus said. “I thought our guys were a little nervous.”
The Bearcats, however, got a spark off the bench from senior Dwayne Jackson, who scored five points in a 7-0 Binghamton run to cut the lead to 11-9. The rest of the first half remained close as Binghamton switched from man to zone defense, frustrating George Washington and keeping them to 12-29 shooting in the first half.
Perhaps the Achilles’ heel in the game for the Bearcats was the sheer size of George Washington’s players. The Bearcats’ stingy defense was no match for the Colonials as GW used its height advantage to crash the paint on offense. The Colonials ended the half with 18 points in the paint.
Binghamton guards Rivera and junior Emanuel Mayben, who both drove to the basket with ease against Mansfield and Buffalo State, were denied by George Washington’s towers down low. Senior Colonial Rob Diggs and junior Damian Hollis had a combined four blocks in the first half. George Washington also frustrated Binghamton by applying a full court press and double-teaming the Bearcats’ ball handler.
“They got us up out of our offense … We beat their press easily, but it kept us out of our offense and out of our flow,” Jackson said.
With injuries to senior Sean Watson and sophomore Moussa Camara, Binghamton was forced into a shorter rotation, which turned out to be a recipe for foul trouble.
With senior forward Reggie Fuller on the bench with three fouls, George Washington continued to dominate the paint at the end of the half and, with five quick points in the last minute, opened up their largest lead to that point, 38-26 at the half.
Frustration began to set in for the Bearcats in the second half. George Washington jumped out of the gates with a 6-0 run, highlighted by a Hollis slam dunk. As the fouls and turnovers began to pile up, the Bearcats did not seem to get the message; Jackson and Mayben were called for intentional fouls on George Washington fast breaks. Mayben was also called for a technical foul for shoving Colonials guard sophomore Travis King, after King committed a foul on Mayben on the previous play.
Down 56-31 with 13:30 remaining, Binghamton could have called it a night, but it never happened. Rivera became a man possessed as he scored eight points in a 10-0 run by the Bearcats, highlighted by a rim-rocking slam dunk. Jackson also contributed 11 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to hold off GW. The Colonials held off all of the Bearcats’ runs in the second half to win comfortably, 71-57.
Rivera led all players with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jackson also had 20 points and Mayben led all players with six assists. Hollis was the star for George Washington with 15 points and a game-high five blocks.
After the game, Broadus addressed the injuries to Watson and Camara.
“I hope [Watson] is back soon,” Broadus said. “We are hoping and praying for him to be back Tuesday.”
Watson sat out with an inflamed back. On Monday Camara had surgery on his nose and, according to Broadus, may be out for three to four weeks.
But Broadus gave no excuses.
“[George Washington’s] execution was unbelievable and they shot the ball real well tonight,” Broadus said. “I take my hat off to the program. We did our best, came up short. Now we have to rebound and get ready for Tuesday.”
Binghamton is back on the road Tuesday, when they will play Central Connecticut State of the Northeast Conference.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Detrick Gymnasium.