It was a game that had more to do with pride than conference standing. A rivalry that has grown increasingly bitter the last several seasons added another chapter this past Sunday.
After a close second half, the University of Vermont (22-9, 12-4 America East) held off the Binghamton University men’s basketball team (13-18, 8-8 AE) down the stretch, winning each team’s regular season finales 78-69 at Patrick Gym in Burlington, Vermont.
“We definitely wanted to win,” said Binghamton interim head coach Mark Macon. “I thought we played well enough to win, we made a few mistakes towards the end of the game; turnovers sealed the game for them.”
Despite trailing 42-32 at halftime, the Bearcats rallied to within four, trailing 67-63 with 3:24 to play in regulation. However, three Binghamton turnovers led to a 7-0 Vermont run that sealed the afternoon.
“We had small mental mistakes that you can’t have,” Macon said of the turnovers late in the game. “But we played a valiant game and tried to stay in there. At times our offense was stagnant and Vermont played well and did what they are supposed to do. I thought we kept their crowd out of the game for the most part. But fouling out two key guys (Greer Wright and Mahamoud Jabbi) was tough.”
Junior foward Jabbi continued to make a case for all-conference honors with a game-high 11 rebounds and two blocks. Jabbi averaged 8.7 rebounds, 8.0 points and 2.1 blocks during conference play.
Binghamton freshman guard Dylan Talley scored a game-high 20 points and had four assists. Junior teammate Moussa Camara had 17 points, his 11th straight game in double figures.
Not having any seniors to honor in the Bearcats’ home finale did not seem to slow them down. In what may turn out to be the final home game this season, the Bearcats held off Hartford (8-21, 6-10 AE) in a 66-53 conference win last Wednesday night at the Events Center.
Leading 42-36 with 9:49 left in the second half, the Bearcats utilized a 14-6 run to go up 14 with just 5:42 to play. Talley had 7 of his 15 points during the run. The Bearcats did not allow another run from the Hawks and held on for the win.
“Binghamton was clearly the better team tonight,” said Hartford head coach Dan Leibovitz. “It was a frustrating game but we lost to a very good team tonight.”
Bearcats sophomore center Kyrie Sutton had a career-high 18 points, including 13 in the second half.
“I couldn’t make a free throw to save my life,” Sutton said. “But my jumper in the paint was working for me. We had a lot of contributors from our team.”
Sutton also grabbed eight rebounds and had three blocks, leading a defense that shut down a typically impressive shooting team. Binghamton held Hartford to 30 percent shooting on the game, including shutting down the Hawks No. 2 scorer in junior Morgan Sabia. Sabia was averaging 12 points per game coming into Wednesday night, but managed only four points off of 2-of-17 shooting, including 0-of-6 from three-point range.
“Hartford is a scary team to play,” Macon said. “They have guys who can shoot the ball. But our guys did a good job of tightening our defense in the second half and we stopped their run and made one of our own.”
Wright came up just short of a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Camara had 11 points. The Bearcats shot 48 percent from the floor for the game, but committed 16 turnovers.
“We make mental mistakes, going for the exciting plays,” Macon said. “Most of our turnovers come from our guys trying to get the ball up the floor too quickly; we just want to cut down on some of them.”
Hartford missed ten of its first 11 shots, but five Binghamton turnovers kept the game close. Junior Joe Zeglinski scored 17 points in a 7:56 span that spurred a Hartford run, which pushed the visitors to a 16-9 lead. The Bearcats used a 19-3 run, which included four straight 3-pointers, to regain the lead, and the Bearcats entered halftime up 28-25. Zeglinski finished with 22 points and eight rebounds.
“Zeglisnki shot the stuffing out of the ball early,” Macon said. “I think our guys did a good job tightening defensively up on him.”
The Bearcats avenged a 64-63 loss to Hartford last month when Binghamton blew a 10-point lead with five minutes to play. In a similar situation Wednesday, the Bearcats closed the game much differently.
“We got lackadaisical,” Wright said on the team’s previous loss to Hartford. “We made a point of emphasis on it, to come out and work hard for 40 minutes.”
Using a fast-paced offense, the Bearcats were pushing the ball up the floor in transition after a number of Hartford misses.
“Their defense was somewhat lax, they were mostly in the lane and Macon wanted us to get the ball on the break,” Wright said. “When we run, that’s when we get wide open shots; that’s how we should play every game.”
The Bearcats, however, will not be participating in the 2010 America East men’s basketball tournament, according to a statement from President Lois Defleur.
Before the voluntary withdrawal, the Bearcats held the fifth seed in the conference tournament. Defleur cited “possible distractions that may occur this weekend” as part of the reason to not attend the annual conference tournament.