Of all the excruciating losses the Binghamton men’s basketball team has suffered in recent seasons, this would have been the most difficult to swallow.

The Bearcats, in year two under head coach Tommy Dempsey, trailed Division II Bloomsburg with less than one minute remaining in today’s exhibition game at the Events Center. After Binghamton won just three games in 2013-14, a loss to a Division II program certainly would not rally the fan base.

But sophomore guard Jordan Reed scored the go-ahead bucket with 41 seconds left, and freshman forward Magnus Richards secured Binghamton’s 48-47 win as he rebounded a Bloomsburg miss with 2.6 seconds on the clock.

“I was happy we found a way to win,” Dempsey said. “I know people are going to look at it and say, ‘Well, they played a Division II team, and they won by one,’ but I’m not worried about that right now.”

The Bearcats fell behind early, as the Huskies opened on a 7-0 run. But a layup by redshirt junior guard Rob Mansell sparked a 13-0 spurt in response. Freshman guard Marlon Beck contributed nine points during that stretch, burying three 3-pointers.

“Once I made that first shot I felt as though the ice was broken,” Beck said. “Even though I’m a freshman, I felt as though I could come in and basically just do what sophomores, juniors and seniors do.”

Beck led all scorers at halftime with 10 points, but Binghamton trailed, 27-25.

Bloomsburg built its advantage to 43-37 with 4:17 to play, but a Reed putback slam and a pair of Mansell free throws kept Binghamton within striking distance. The Bearcats regained the lead on two Mansell foul shots with 1:47 on the clock, but Bloomsburg redshirt senior guard Dontahe Jordan converted a layup 17 seconds later to put the Huskies on top, 47-46.

Then Reed went to work in the lane and stole the lead back for good.

Mansell led all scorers with 16 points in his first game since February 2012. The redshirt junior, who sat all of last season while recovering from knee surgery, shot 4-of-15 from the field. As a team, Binghamton shot 30 percent.

“I thought I was on target with most of my shots, I just missed them long,” Mansell said. “A lot of mid-range shots are layups for me, and, yeah, I missed a lot of them. I just need to get back in the gym and work on that.”

Mansell also shot 8-of-10 from the foul line, but the Bearcats hit just 15 of their 36 free throws as a team.

“We were 4-for-17 at the half, and once you start missing them, it kind of gets in your head,” Dempsey said. “I don’t think we have bad shooters. I don’t think we have bad free throw shooters. It’s something to keep an eye on for sure, because that was painful.”

Bloomsburg held a 49-35 advantage on the glass, as Dempsey played four guards for substantial stretches of the game.

“I thought our guards hung out a little bit and they left our guys on the glass alone,” Dempsey said. “Obviously, Jordan’s going to bang the glass, but we need even the small guards to just compete harder for balls on the glass.”

Beck didn’t score a point in the second half. He cut his shooting hand diving for a loose ball, and though he would not use that as an excuse, it appeared to affect his shot.

Reed finished with nine points, eight rebounds and four steals. He shot 4-for-9 from the floor and 1-for-7 from the foul line.

Richards, who not only grabbed the clinching rebound but also drove to the hoop for a key bucket late in the game, scored five points and grabbed five rebounds.

The Bearcats are set to host the 2013-14 season opener on Friday night against Loyola Md. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Events Center.