Coming off a commanding 82-59 home win over Marist on Saturday, the Binghamton men’s basketball team’s three-game win streak came to an end on Tuesday morning as the Bearcats fell 89-75 to Sacred Heart on the road. After struggling on the defensive end, allowing the Pioneers to put up 48 points in the first half, BU faced a 17-point deficit going into halftime. Despite some big plays in the second half, the visitors were unable to complete the comeback.

“We just didn’t execute at a high level,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “I think when those shots didn’t go down, layups or we had open threes … I think that affected us on the defensive end. We can’t let our offense dictate how we’re going to guard or defend, and I thought that happened today.”

After Sacred Heart (4-2) hit a fadeaway jumper and converted on a three-point play to open up the scoring, BU (3-3) got on the board after graduate student guard Symir Torrence found graduate student guard Dan Petcash, who tipped in a layup to make it 5-2. Early foul trouble for the Bearcats would help Sacred Heart build a cushion. However, BU soon got back on the board to make it 8-4 when senior guard Armon Harried beat a Pioneer defender to the rim and layed the ball into the basket for his 1,000th collegiate point.

Binghamton continued to claw back when sophomore guard Chris Walker crossed over his defender and sunk a three-pointer from the top of the key to put BU within one at 12-11. This was the closest BU got in the half as the Pioneers began to pull away. Sacred Heart shot 58.62 percent from the field while also grabbing 14 defensive boards to build its lead. On the other hand, the Bearcats shot just 4-of-13 from the line and 1-of-8 from three in the half. To end the first half scoring, Petcash found senior forward Nehemiah Benson in transition for a layup, as the visitors entered halftime down 48-31.

“You can do whatever you want to do, but if you can’t put the ball in the basket, then that’s gonna be tough,” Sanders said. “And then I just thought that we gave them the ability to get comfortable early on by not being able to get stops. That was kind of a formula for the last three-game win streak. We started well, and we had the other team playing from behind. Today, we were playing from behind, and we didn’t really handle [it] that well.”

As the second half began, BU’s offense started to come alive as the team attempted a comeback. Three minutes in, the momentum began to shift when Torrence lobbed the ball to junior guard Tymu Chenery who swished in a three-pointer. Not long after, Chenery stayed in a rhythm, knocking down another three-pointer to make it 55-43.

“I think the quality of shots that we got in the first half was actually pretty good,” Sanders said. “I just think that we had our best shooter, [Petcash], wide open for a ton of shots that he just didn’t make. So in the second half, [Chenery] made some threes, [Walker] … made a three. We got out, we got some stops and we got the ability to run out and get some baskets in transition.”

Soon after, freshman guard Evan Ashe finished a fastbreak layup, which spearheaded a 6-0 Binghamton run. On BU’s next possession, Ashe beat a double team and got an offensive rebound to sneak in another score, making it a 72-65 game. A pair of free throws from senior forward Tariq Balogun got BU within five. However, this was the closest BU managed to get. Sacred Heart mounted one final run to keep the game out of reach, earning an 89-75 victory.

“We need games like this because you want a few games to grow,” Sanders said. “Everybody believes that they’re good, and I think we are good but we gotta be consistent in who we are. I think this is a game that can get us back to that.”

Chenery led BU offensively with the first 20-point performance on the season for a Bearcat — putting up 21 points. In addition, Balogun totaled 10 points, four rebounds and two blocks, while Benson came off the bench to add 10 points and four rebounds.

BU will head home to face Army on Saturday, Nov. 25. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.