After getting blown out by UMass Lowell last Saturday, the Binghamton men’s basketball team’s regular season finale ended with a buzzer-beating three-pointer that cemented a 75-72 home loss to NJIT Tuesday evening. Based on the outcomes of Tuesday’s America East slate, the No. 5 Bearcats will head to No. 4 Albany on Saturday for the conference quarterfinals.

“For us, it wasn’t really about the postseason,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “It was about finishing our regular season and having the opportunity to do something that hadn’t been done and so, disappointing for that. I didn’t think we executed well enough, especially defensively.”

While NJIT (6-25, 3-13 AE) won the tipoff, it would be senior guard Wes Peterson Jr. giving the Bearcats (15-16, 7-9 AE) an early lead with an inside floater to make it 2-0. The Bearcats controlled the early minutes of the contest with graduate student guard Tymu Chenery cutting through the lane to go up 9-3, but a pair of three-pointers from the Highlanders quickly made it a tied game.

The story of the half from there was NJIT’s physical man defense: The Highlanders jammed up Binghamton’s shooters to the tune of a 36.4 percent shooting clip. Despite getting in foul trouble, NJIT grabbed hold of the lead with another three-pointer to go up 22-19, and the visitors didn’t let go of the advantage the rest of the period. While Chenery gave Binghamton the final first-half bucket with a final-second jump shot, the hosts were down 36-34 entering the break.

“I didn’t think they were fouling on purpose,” Sanders said of NJIT. “I think that that’s just [the way] they play, and obviously we didn’t take advantage of that.”

The Highlanders continued to make use of the perimeter to open the second, swishing a three to go up 39-34. This initial score set the tone for the second half’s pace of play, with Binghamton struggling to find efficient shots to knot the contest. BU would remain in striking distance, however, by leveraging NJIT’s physicality to 23 free-throw attempts during the period.

It would end up taking an up-and-in three from sophomore forward Gavin Walsh that tied the contest at 63 to reignite the Bearcat offense. This opened the door to a 70-66 lead taken at the line thanks to consecutive fouls drawn by Chenery and Peterson, but the lead would not last. After tying the game 72-72 from the perimeter and getting a stop on the Bearcats, NJIT made its 11th and final three of the game from the corner to beat the buzzer and hand BU a 75-72 defeat.

“I think that shot, that was the loudest I heard the crowd all night,” Sanders said of Walsh’s three-pointer. “They kind of erupted, and I thought that that gave us some momentum. But again, I don’t think we capitalized on that because we kind of gave it right back to them.”

Despite the loss, history was still made at the Events Center on Thursday, thanks to Walsh. Leading the squad with a 19-point and 14-rebound double-double, the sophomore officially broke BU’s single-season double-double record. Walsh’s 14 total double-doubles on the campaign leave him tied for ninth in the nation, while he closes the regular season with the fourth most rebounds in the country at 330, according to the NCAA.

“Gavin has had a tremendous season in terms of rebounding the basketball, and it’s a credit to all his hard work,” Sanders said. “Obviously if you ask him, he’ll say his teammates contributed to that also, but he’s had a heck of a season.”

“It’s the America East tournament,” he added. “So if you can’t focus and play a good brand of basketball, something is wrong. We know exactly what we need to do. We know what challenges Albany presents.”

With yesterday’s loss and Bryant’s victory over New Hampshire, BU has clinched the No. 5 seed for the AE playoffs and a quarterfinal date with No. 4 Albany on Saturday, March 8. The squads traded respective road wins during conference play, with BU topping the Great Danes in Albany 65-61 during their latest matchup courtesy of a final-second dagger from Chenery. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Broadview Center in Albany, New York.