After a win over reigning America East champions Bryant, the short-manned Binghamton men’s basketball team dropped a pair of matchups, falling 79-62 to UMBC to open the week before a 73-64 loss at NJIT on Saturday.

In Thursday’s matchup, UMBC (14-8, 7-2 AE) quickly mounted a 7-2 lead, scoring on its first three possessions before Binghamton (5-20, 1-9 AE) responded with a free-throw and driving jumper from junior guard Bryson Wilson. Exiting the first media timeout, the Bearcats stayed within striking distance with makes from Wilson and junior guard Jeremiah Quigley. However, the Retrievers began to build their lead, amassing a 21-14 advantage with just over eight minutes left in the half.

“Obviously, you want to win every game you play,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “But under our circumstances, we were just trying to put ourselves in situations where late in games, we’re close and maybe we can kind of steal one.”

A layup from redshirt sophomore forward Stephan Snagg kickstarted a 4-0 run that brought the Bearcats within a point of their hosts, yet UMBC responded with three consecutive scores. The Bearcats struggled to convert their chances, allowing the Retrievers to extend their run. A late Wilson make from beyond-the-arc saw the scoreboard read 35-26, but the Retrievers struck back, closing out the half on a 4-0 run.

Exiting halftime, Binghamton’s woes continued as they soon trailed UMBC by 20 at the second media timeout despite shooting four-of-nine from the field. Following the timeout, graduate student guard Jackson Benigni scored five points for the Bearcats, but the Retrievers continued to hit threes, stifling any attempts at a comeback.

“We only had five players,” Sanders said. “It was just pretty difficult to just try to play. We played three guys basically 40 minutes, and then we had to play our walk on so it was just hard when you’re playing at such a disadvantage.”

A three from senior guard Wes Peterson Jr. capped off a 7-2 Binghamton run to make the score 53-68. With just over two minutes remaining in the match, Wilson completed an and-one layup to cut the Bearcat deficit to 13, but they were then held scoreless for the remainder of the match, falling to UMBC 79-62.

On Saturday afternoon, Binghamton faced off against America East leaders NJIT (13-12, 8-2 AE). Although the Highlanders secured the first buckets of the night, Binghamton quickly built a 7-3 lead thanks to an and-one three by Benigni and a make from beyond-the-arc courtesy of Quigley. NJIT’s offense began to find its legs, evening the score at 13-13 by the first media timeout.

“They have guys that are really physical, that drive to the basket, that put you in those situations,” Sanders said. “But you can’t really think about it, you got to go out there and play the game.”

Both squads struggled to string together a scoring run strong enough to pull ahead, with neither team earning a lead larger than a single point as a dunk courtesy of Snagg gave the Bearcats the 21-20 advantage. After NJIT built its largest lead of the night at 25-21, the Bearcats found answers to every Highlander bucket, closing in on NJIT as the Bearcats trailed 32-30.

The Highlanders found their shot to open the second half, responding to Snagg’s opening layup with a 12-2 run. Although the Bearcats struck back with a three from Peterson Jr. and a contested layup from junior forward Zyier Beverly, key Highlander three-pointers made it 53-40, forcing a Bearcat timeout.

Wilson followed up a driving layup with a corner three, bringing the Bearcats within eight points of their hosts, but the Bearcats failed to get any closer until the three-minute mark when a Snagg and-one cut NJIT’s lead to 68-61. The Bearcats, however, struggled to find the net as three free throws from Snagg marked their last buckets in a 73-64 loss.

“Every time you play against Vermont, you have to be able to put points on the board,” Sanders said. “And hopefully we’ll put ourselves in a position where we can score some baskets and we can also be able to defend them.”

Binghamton will hope to get back in the win column when it hosts Vermont on Thursday, Feb. 12. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court in Vestal, New York.