There was some unexpected noise at the end of a slow, one-sided game last Wednesday.

Albany defeated Binghamton 74-62 at the Events Center, but the focus was on what happened afterward, when the two teams lined up to shake hands.

Bearcats head coach Kevin Broadus exchanged words with Albany head coach Will Brown and then came face-to-face with Chad O’Donnell, an Albany assistant coach, and a small pushing match resulted.

“He [O’Donnell] got up in my face and he said ‘back up’ and I said, ‘no, don’t touch me,’” Broadus explained after the game.

As for his conversation with Brown, Broadus said he told the coach: “‘Please don’t talk about my players in the media.’ That’s all that was said. In this profession everyone has to understand, as coaches sometimes you have to hold back your anger. But I just don’t want guys to take shots at my programs, and say this or that, or a guy’s not this — that’s all. I just wanted to make sure that he understood that I’m going to protect my guys and I don’t want anyone to take shots at my guys.”

But Brown downplayed what happened.

“Oh nothing, just two coaches competing against each other. There’s nothing more to say or get excited over,” he said. “I wasn’t paying attention. I was anxious to get back to the locker room.”

Despite the downplaying of the post-game confrontation, Binghamton Athletics Director Joel Thirer suspended Broadus for the Bearcats’ game against Stony Brook on Saturday, a 49-44 win.

“We continued to review all aspects of the incident,” Thirer said. “I spoke with [America East] commissioner [Patrick Nero] and my senior staff, and I decided that this was the appropriate thing to do.”

Assistant coach Lawrence Brenneman took over in Broadus’ absence.

In a statement released Friday night Broadus said, “I regret my participation in any actions which might have brought negative attention to our team and to Binghamton University.”

O’Donnell was also suspended by Albany for its regular season finale against Boston University.

Broadus traveled with the team but was not in the arena for the victory at Stony Brook. He said he saw the suspension coming. “I kind of figured it was going to happen. I sensed it.”

Broadus said he struggled just being a fan during the SBU game.

“I watched two possessions and that’s it,” Broadus said. “The first possession DJ took a jump shot from the wing and it went far left and the second one, I saw Richie miss a layup and I was just done. I followed it on the ticker with my phone but it was too tough.”

If Binghamton and Albany were to square off again this season, it would have to come in the America East Championship game at Albany, as the Great Danes are the higher seed.

While they may not face each other in 2008, is there a Broadus-Brown feud to boil over into next year?

“It’s not about Will Brown and not about Kevin Broadus, not about anyone else,” Brown said. “It’s about the kids wearing the uniform.”

Broadus agreed that “there’s no war between me and Will Brown. This is Binghamton-Albany.”