Returning home following a winless two-game road trip, Binghamton’s men’s basketball team claimed its first victory in conference play, defeating Bryant 63-60. Trailing 60-53 with just under three minutes remaining in the match, the Bearcats closed out on a 10-0 run to claim the victory.

“Feels good to get a ‘W,’ know that for sure,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “I thought the guys were resilient tonight.”

The Bearcats (5-18, 1-7 AE) were first on board with a make from beyond the arc courtesy of junior guard Bryson Wilson, and they exploited light perimeter coverage to build a 9-4 advantage with three-pointers from junior guards Jeremiah Quigley and Ryan Richardson. Bryant (6-15, 2-5 AE) battled back to even the score at 9-9 entering the first media timeout, but the Bearcats responded with a layup and a floater from Quigley to go ahead 15-10. The Bearcats continued to tack on points, as junior forward Zyier Beverly kick-started a 6-1 run with a slam dunk.

The Bulldogs struck back, sinking a three-pointer and driving in a layup, before drawing several fouls to slow a Bearcat attempt to reestablish a double-digit lead. A dunk from senior guard Wes Peterson Jr. gave Binghamton a 27-21 lead, but he was forced out of the game on the following possession, leaving the squad with just six scholarship players. After swapping scores twice, Bryant closed out the half with an and-one layup, cutting Binghamton’s advantage to just 30-28.

“I want to give a big shout out to the guys, losing [Peterson Jr.] in the first half, finishing the game with six players,” Sanders said. “I went over to the referee one time, and I said, ‘Listen, man, after [Wilson] got his fourth foul, we got six players.’”

Binghamton failed to capitalize on a pair of possessions brought on by an offensive rebound to open the half, while a Bryant floater on its possession marked the match’s first deadlock. The foes traded scores in the ensuing minutes, but Binghamton began to pull ahead as a corner three from graduate student guard Jackson Benigni forced a Bryant timeout and Quigley tacked on a pair of free throws exiting the break. Bryant, however, responded instantly with an and one and a three-pointer.

The Bearcats soon trailed by three, but another beyond-the-arc make from Benigni evened the score. An alley-oop from Quigley to Beverly gave the Bearcats the advantage, but the Bulldogs barked back with a 10-2 run. A floater from Quigley and a dunk from Wilson trimmed the Bryant lead to four, but they responded with a three-pointer to force a Bearcat timeout.

Exiting the timeout, Quigley drove in a contested layup before finding Wilson in the paint for a layup of his own, bringing the Bearcats within a point of the visitors. After holding the Bulldogs scoreless once more, Quigley drove in another contested layup for the Bearcats before finding Beverly in the paint for a dunk with just 11 seconds remaining in the match. Binghamton prevented Bryant’s go-ahead attempt, and Quigley drew a foul in the final second of the match, sinking both attempts as Binghamton claimed the 63-60 victory.

“I do remember saying we have a lot of time, a lot of possessions left,” Sanders said. “But it’s stuff that we kind of practiced early in the year, not as much now, but it’s like, you got to get a score and you got to get a stop, or a stop and a score for one point and I think we came out and we did that to a T.”

Leading the Bearcats with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field was Quigley, who added a game-high eight assists and continues to lead the America East in assists per game. Also reaching double-digits was Wilson with 14 points, while also tacking on six rebounds.

“These kinds of games we’ve been losing all season, and so it feels good to finally make more plays than our opponent to win it,” Sanders said. “Its not like one of those games where they gave us the game, we had to actually go and make plays to win it, and I thought we did that.”

The Bearcats will look to remain in AE postseason contention when they kick off a road trip against UMBC on Thursday, Feb 5. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.