Going into the America East (AE) playoffs with a three-game winning streak and the No. 5 seed in the AE tournament, the Binghamton men’s basketball team’s season came to an end on Saturday afternoon with a 77-64 loss to No.4 UNH. After BU mounted an 11-1 run to end the first half, entering halftime with the lead, the visitors were unable to regain its momentum against the Wildcats in the second period en route to the season-ending loss.

“Obviously we’re disappointed because we feel we had a team that could have done some more,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “But when you don’t go out and execute and play the way we play, these things happen. So the biggest thing I told the guys is to just remember this feeling … and come back even better next year.”

UNH (16-14, 8-9 AE) opened the scoring with a quick three pointer, but Binghamton (15-15, 7-10 AE) quickly responded with a 7-0 run, starting with senior forward Nehemiah Benson fading away from mid-range to put BU on the board. Senior forward Tariq Balogun then muscled his way to the rim to take the lead, with junior guard Tymu Chenery splashing a three-pointer to give BU a 7-3 advantage. After trading baskets, senior guard Armon Harried made a step back jumper to make it 9-6, but the Wildcat’s success from the three-point line — going 4-for-5 beyond the arc in the opening five minutes — allowed them to regain the lead at 12-9.

“The first play we come out and instead of us switching, we don’t switch and give them the ability to hit a three,” Sanders said. “Those were a lot of what was happening in that first four or five minutes … and that just gave them the ability to settle down. If we don’t give them those threes, we probably have an eight or nine-point lead.”

Benson cut the UNH lead to 14-12, after driving in for a layup. However, UNH began to pull away from there — scoring 12 points off Binghamton’s nine turnovers in the half. Soon after, Sanders brought in graduate student guard Symir Torrence to run the point for the remainder of the period. With the Bearcats trailing 31-23, Torrence kickstarted an 11-0 run, finding Chenery inside for the slam. Balogun followed this up with a layup before Chenery cut inside once more to tie it back up at 31. The run was capped off by graduate student guard Dan Petcash swishing in a three-pointer to give Binghamton a 34-32 advantage going into halftime.

“[Later in the half] we didn’t give them the ability to make a lot of [three-pointers],” Sanders said. “We were able to take a lead because that was the way they were scoring, and we took that away. Then we were able to get some shots at last on our end.”

The second half began with an exchange of baskets with the Bearcats going up 38-34 after Balogun scooped back in his own miss. However, Binghamton did not hold the lead for much longer as the Wildcats mounted a 10-point run of their own to go up 44-38. Petcash stopped the bleeding with a mid-range jump shot before cutting UNH’s lead down to 46-44 after a pair of layups from freshman forward Gavin Walsh and Chenery.

As time continued to wind down in the second half, UNH continued to maintain their lead, matching the visitors’ every basket. The Wildcats won the battle at the free throw line — the hosts shot 16-for-17 on the half while Binghamton made 10-of-18. With 1:49 remaining, the Wildcats took a double digit lead, which they held for the rest of the way. When the final buzzer sounded, the Bearcats found itself on the losing end of things, suffering a 77-64 loss as their season came to an end.

“By us not being able to make those free throws, you can’t cut the lead down,” Sanders said. “When you do get a stop and then you come down and get fouled, you can’t score so that was a key factor in the second half.”

Four Bearcats finished in double figures. Chenery, who played all 40 minutes, tabbed 18 points alongside six rebounds and two blocks. Meanwhile, the trio of Balogun, Petcash and Harried all added 10 points of their own to the losing effort.

The Bearcats conclude the 2023-24 campaign having earned a 15-14 record, its first winning record in the regular season since the 2008-09 season. Earning AE conference honors were Harried and Walsh — respectively named to the all-defensive and all-rookie teams — while Torrence finished second in the nation in assists, averaging 7.5 a game in the regular season. Heading into next year, Sanders says the goal is for next year’s returners to build on the example of the players who are leaving.

“When we first took over, the year before, we won four games,” Sanders said. “Now we are at a point where we’re able to clip a 15-win season together. So now we’re going to be greedy. We’re gonna want more, and it is a matter of everybody coming back doing their part.”