If you watched Saturday’s Binghamton-Albany game on TV, you might not have noticed the strong contingent of fans forced into the corner of Albany’s arena. But busloads of Binghamton faithful, including yours truly, were there in full force, trying to give the Bearcats support in the most hostile environment they faced all season. If you also happened to hear chants of ‘safety school’ during that broadcast, it was because we waited for Albany to shoot free throws and the arena to quiet down to chant that one ‘ not that we needed to: at times we outdid the 4,000 Albany fans by ourselves.

Yet between bouts of cheering and resisting harassment from the angry Albany crowd, I had a startling revelation: despite the large disparity in their league records, Albany is no more talented than Binghamton. I wasn’t alone. Before the game, Great Dane head coach Will Brown wondered the same thing. ‘They’re quite possibly the most talented team in our league from [players] one through 13,’ Brown said. ‘They have all the talent in the world. I don’t know what’s going on ‘

The best player on the floor on Saturday was not reigning Player of the Year Jamar Wilson, or even our own Mike Gordon, who torched Albany for 15 points, five assists and three steals. It was Lazar Trifunovic, the freshman from Belgrade, Serbia. Albany had no answer for Lazar’s hook shot ‘ when Great Dane Brent Wilson couldn’t stop it, Albany double-teamed Trifunovic, who passed his way out of trouble to the tune of five assists. Brown, realizing that doubling the forward left Binghamton’s 3-point shooters open, gave up and decided to let Trifunovic play one-on-one. Lazar’s strong showing in the televised game should help him make an outside push for America East Rookie of the Year, especially if Vermont’s Joe Trapani remains injured for the remainder of the season.

So with the talent that the Bearcats have, why is their record so terrible? Some point the finger at the coaching. If Binghamton wants to be a contender next season, there’s a bigger issue. Lazar is the only threat down low for the Bearcats. Ian Milne, who has missed most of the season with mysterious post-concussion symptoms, will hopefully return this season or next and help Lazar out. Assistant coach Ali Ton hoped to bolster the front line with Mehmet Sahan, a Turkish recruit who originally verbally committed to Binghamton to play this season. Instead, Sahan opted to attend prep school for a year, and he now has interest from Big East members Providence and West Virginia, leaving Bearcat fans to wonder what might have been.

There’s no time to lament now, though, because this season still can be salvaged. With five America East games left on the schedule, it’s time for Binghamton to make a serious playoff push. The Bearcats won’t win the regular season title ‘ or even come close ‘ but if they can avoid the play-in game of the America East tournament and earn the six seed, they can likely avoid playing Albany and Vermont in the first round and make a tournament run. If Al Walker can get his players to defend like they did against Albany, they will be a dangerous team that no one will want to play in the tournament.