With America East (AE) playoff seeding on the line, the Binghamton men’s basketball team pulled through with a come from behind — 72-71 win — over UMBC on Tuesday night. After trailing for the nearly entire contest and going down by as much as 14 points, the Bearcats chipped away late in the second half to take a lead that they maintained the rest of the way. Alongside securing the win, BU secured the No. 5 seed in the AE playoffs and its first winning record since 2009.
“We really wanted to win these last three games,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “We knew [that] if we did that, we had an opportunity to get the fifth seed, which is the highest seed we would’ve been able to get. It feels good also because we’ve secured a winning season, and we haven’t had one of those in a long time.”
UMBC (11-20, 6-10 AE) quickly went up 4-0 to open up the game with Binghamton (15-14, 7-9 AE) missed its first four shots from the field. Despite a layup from senior forward Tariq Balogun and three-pointer from junior guard Tymu Chenery to make it 8-6, UMBC controlled the game for most of the first 20 minutes of play. BU struggling to answer the Retrievers’ zone defense — turning the ball over eight times in the half. UMB continued to extend its lead with timely baskets as Binghamton found itself down 34-20.
“We had seven turnovers really early in the game,” Sanders said. “By the first media time-out we already had three turnovers, which was giving them the ability to have some easy baskets. Once we stopped turning the ball over midway through the half, we got some good shots.”
After Sanders adjusted his lineup to become guard-centric, graduate student guard Dan Petcash knocked down two free throws to spearhead a 10-0 run for BU. Then, senior forward Nehemiah Benson beat a double team inside for a layup. To cap off the run, Chenery splashed back-to-back three-pointers off high ball screens, making it a 34-30 game. Senior guard Armon Harried kept the Bearcats within striking distance, nailing a corner three-pointer that cut UMBC’s lead to 40-37 going into halftime.
“We really started to play together,” Sanders said. “Bringing [sophomore guard Masud Stewart] into the game and giving [Harried] the ability to play off-ball helped us really make some good plays and get some good passes.”
As the second half began, Binghamton’s offense cooled off — going 0-for-9 from the field to open the period while the Retrievers went 5-for-7 to retake a double-digit lead. The dry spell ended after Chenery drove in a layup, which was complimented by baskets from freshman forward Gavin Walsh to make it a 50-42 game. Both teams then exchanged baskets as Binghamton stayed within eight points for most of this opening stretch of the second half.
However, the Bearcats began to chip away after sophomore guard Chris Walker made two layups to get BU within five of the Retrievers at 60-55. Continuing to cut into UMBC’s lead, Petcash connected with Benson on a backdoor pass for two before splashing a three-pointer of his own to tie the game at 69. With 3:20 remaining, Balogun made two free throws to give Binghamton its first lead of the night at 71-70. With 0.8 seconds remaining, after UMBC made a free throw to make it a one point game, it missed the second. However, a Retriever was able to grab the offense board, but to no avail as the shot was off the mark as Binghamton came out on top 72-71 to win its final game of conference play.
“It was the toughness that we were battling with,” Sanders said. “It was the rebounds as we came up with some big-time rebounds … It was the will. We knew we were playing for that fifth seed and not wanting to give that up.”
With 16 points off of 8-for-13 shooting from the field, Benson spearheaded the offensive effort for Binghamton on Tuesday night. Riding into the AE tournament with a three-game winning streak, the Bearcats are now set to face off against UNH on the road to open the AE playoffs — having last beaten UNH 87-74 at home on Saturday.
“It’s good that we just played [UNH],” Sanders said. “So we know what they do … We know we will be able to get what we want on the defensive end, so if we make shots like we’ve been doing, [we can] play with confidence.”
No. 5 Binghamton is set to take on No. 4 UNH on Saturday, March 9 in an AE quarterfinal matchup. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at the Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire.