After a 0-4 start to America East (AE) conference play, the Binghamton men’s basketball team’s bid for win No.1 against UNH on the road fell short Thursday night, as the Bearcats dropped the contest 79-73 in overtime. After a back-and-forth first half BU built a 12-point advantage to begin the second. However, a comeback from the Wildcats sent the game to overtime where missed shots and foul trouble sealed resulted in a Bearcat loss.

“I thought we put ourselves in position to win a game,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “Looking back at it, our execution gotta be a little bit better in crucial moments. I thought we didn’t really trust each other. I thought we had some opportunities to spray balls around the perimeter, but I didn’t think we did that.”

Binghamton (8-10, 0-5 AE) controlled the pace of play early, forcing a shot clock violation by UNH (12-7, 4-2 AE) on the first possession. Then, graduate student guard Symir Torrence proceeded to get the rock to graduate student guard Dan Petcash who sunk a three-pointer to tie it at 3-3. As the Bearcats controlled the zone against the Wildcats, they profited off fouls by the Wildcats in the paint and hit four straight free throws before sophomore guard Chris Walker swished in a three to make it 12-7 for BU.

UNH soon tied the game, but senior guard Armon Harried snagged a Petcash miss and put it back in the basket for two, making it 14-12 Bearcats. Both squads traded punches, as Walker pulled back and splashed his second three-pointer, giving BU a two-point lead. The Bearcats pulled away toward the end of the half, as freshman forward Gavin Walsh snatched a steal and took it coast to coast. This kickstarted a 9-2 BU run to finish the period which was capped off by Walker beating a Wildcat at the rim and driving it in for two as BU entered halftime up 37-33.

“We put a bunch of stops in a row together,” Sanders said. “When we are getting stops, we are able to get out in transition and score some baskets.”

Benson nailed quick turnaround layup to open the second half, followed by Torrence finding Harried for a step back jumper to make it 41-33 Bearcats. The Bearcats then extended their lead to 12 — their largest of the game — after Petcash knocked down a mid range jump shot. However, the Wildcats pushed back and strung together an 8-0 run to take the lead at 58-54. Both teams continued battling, with a dunk from Harried followed and a Petcash three that made it 64-60 Bearcats. The Wildcats were not done yet though, tying the game at 64 with 3.5 seconds to go. A Hail Mary shot from Torrence fell short, the game went into overtime.

“We weren’t able to offensively make the plays when we needed to make the plays,” Sanders said. “We had a ton of open [three-pointers], but we ended up going seven-for-25 from the three-point line. [Walker], who was three-for-11, I thought he had a ton of open looks that if two or three more of those go down it’s a different game … So I think that’s what it was about.”

In overtime, after BU won the tip, Walker swiftly sank in a three to give Binghamton a 67-64 advantage. The Bearcats kept their lead with a pull up jumper from Harried to make it 69-66 before the Wildcats took the lead back at 70-69. After snagging a rebound, Torrence forced a foul and tied the game at 70, knocking down one of two at the line. However, a late run by UNH gave them the 74-70 advantage, and while Harried would get a driving layup in the closing seconds it would not be enough as BU fell to the Wildcats 79-73 and suffered its fifth straight loss.

Walker and Petcash led the squad with 17 and 16 points respectively during the contest, while Walker also added a team-leading eight rebounds to the stat sheet. Coming just shy of a double-double was Torrence, with eight points and nine assists in 44 minutes of action.

“We can’t hang our heads,” Sanders said. “We have to understand that there’s a game in two days. So we got to be ready to put ourselves in position to come out and fight and play the way that we know we can play.”

The Bearcats will continue to search for their first AE win as they travel to Maine on Saturday, Jan. 27. Tip off is set for 2 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Orono, Maine.