Binghamton University men’s basketball completed its longest road trip of the year with an 81-73 loss at Rider on Saturday. The Bearcats, who lost all three games of the road swing, are mired in a five-game losing streak, tying the longest losing streak in the team’s Division I history.

‘I thought we played hard,’ said BU head coach Kevin Broadus. ‘We had a five-minute stretch where we let them get away from us, and when you play a team like that, you can’t bear to let them have a five-minute stretch.’

It wasn’t the early minutes of the second half that doomed the Bearcats this game, but rather the middle of the half, as Rider used a 15-2 run to turn an early four-point lead into a 57-40 domination.

‘We have to stay solid and stay together,’ Broadus said.

Binghamton launched a furious comeback after Rider’s 6-foot-11 senior NBA prospect Jason Thompson, who had 15 points, was ejected from the game due to an intentional flagrant foul. The Bearcats pulled within 71-67 with 1:13 to go, but the Broncs steadied themselves with perfect 10-for-10 free-throw-shooting down the stretch to end the Bearcat threat.

‘That’s the mark that we’re growing,’ Broadus said. ‘The team is not giving up and that’s going to pay off. We really played hard those last 10 minutes.’

Rider’s Harris Mansell sank all eight of his free throws in the final minute and finished with a game-high 23 points. He was one of five Broncs to finish in double figures.

The Bearcats rally was led by senior guard Richie Forbes, who shot 7-for-17 en route to 23 points. Forbes also chipped in six steals, helping Binghamton to a season-high 13. The problem for BU was scoring off the turnovers.

‘Once we get those steals we have to convert them into points,’ Broadus said. ‘We’re stealing the ball and then we’re going down and turning the ball back over. We can have great stats, but now we gotta put balls in the bucket and defend better.’

Sophomore forward Lazar Trifunovic came alive in the second half, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the period. He also added eight rebounds. Freshman guard Devon McBride continued his recent impressive play with 12 points.

‘He’s been lurking in the wings,’ Broadus said of McBride. ‘We’re bringing him along slowly. It’s a process to come from high school as a true freshman. He’s playing hard and he’s playing well. He’s ready, and I hope we can see a few more guys learning.’

The Bearcats’ interior shooting improved as BU shot 53 percent from inside the arc, but a disappointing 6-of-29 from downtown. Milos Klimovic shot 0-for-5 from 3-point range and freshman Moussa Camara put up a 1-for-6 performance.

Binghamton led early in the first half once again, as the Bearcats used a 10-2 run four minutes into the game to take a 15-10 lead before Rider responded with a 10-4 run of its own. The Broncs held BU to just two field goals through the rest of the half and grabbed 11 of the last 14 rebounds in the first half. For the game, Binghamton was outrebounded 43-29.

The Bearcats previously lost five in a row in the 2005-2006 season under Al Walker.