Coming off its lone bye in America East play preceded by a tough 70-65 loss to Albany, the Binghamton men’s basketball team fared no better on the road Saturday as it fell 83-69 to Bryant. The Bearcats started hot to open the game with a 10-point lead but failed to find answers and execute as the Bulldogs heated up.

“We started well,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “I thought we were following our game plan and what we wanted to do. I think the part that really hurt us was that into the half where we had some turnovers for them to get out some easy baskets … It’s just we couldn’t sustain the level we were playing at for 40 minutes, and that’s what you need to do if you want to beat a team like Bryant.”

Working around an injury for senior forward Nehemiah Benson and looking to reignite the offense, graduate student forward Ben Callahan-Gold and senior guard Wes Peterson Jr. joined Binghamton’s (9-12, 1-5 AE) starting lineup Saturday afternoon. This immediately paid off in kickstarting the game, with Callahan-Gold finding a cutting Peterson for a driving layup to make it 2-0 BU.

“[Benson] sprained his ankle last game,” Sanders said. “So it is kind of just day by day to see when he is going to be able to return.”

Soon after, this led to a nine-point run capped by a three-pointer from graduate student guard Tymu Chenery to go up 9-0 over hosts Bryant (12-9, 6-0 AE). Binghamton would keep up the pace over the Bulldogs with a dunk from Chenery, making it 17-8, but a resulting shift to a full-court press from Bryant began to slow Binghamton’s offense. Soon, the game shifted to a back-and-forth battle where Bryant wrestled away a 33-29 lead off a transition dunk and a three-pointer. Benefiting from 11 points off of turnovers on the half, the hosts entered halftime up 36-33.

“We had three or four unforced turnovers at the end of the half, which went to easy dunks from them, and then the momentum carried in the second half,” Sanders said. “So I don’t think it was a lot of adjustments on their part. We just turned the ball over.”

Binghamton found itself chasing the Bulldogs to open the second, with sophomore forward Gavin Walsh leading the charge with a layup for two to get within three points at 43-40. However, this was the closest Binghamton got the rest of the way. Going 17-for-32 from the field and 6-for-11 from deep on the half, Bryant built momentum and continued to beat the Binghamton zone to get as far as 17 points ahead of the Bearcats. While BU tried to stop the bleeding, and a three from redshirt junior guard Chris Walker made it 71-61, it was clear that the game was out of reach. Bryant closed out with an 83-69 win.

“They have the ability to make those tough shots,” Sanders said. “And when you get a couple of easy baskets, then that gives you the confidence in your ability to make the tough ones. So again, we got to do a better job of not giving up the easy ones. Tougher ones then become much harder.”

Chenery continues to lead the Bearcats in scoring with 16 points Saturday, while Walsh ended a cold streak with an 11-point and 15-rebound double-double. During Binghamton’s 1-5 start to conference play, the squad has racked up a -4.6 turnover margin with an average of 13.8 a game.

“Hopefully the more we practice, the better we become executed,” Sanders said. “We’ve been in a ton of close games so that shouldn’t be a factor … It’s just in parts of the game we have to not fold per se, but we have to sustain it for longer periods of time.”

The Bearcats will hope to regain momentum back at home as they are set to take on Vermont next Thursday, Jan. 30. Tipoff is set for 6:07 p.m. on the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.