The Binghamton University men’s basketball team opened its season with a gritty road victory over Colgate University on Saturday night, downing the Raiders 62-60.
Senior forward Greer Wright led BU with 27 points and four assists, spearheading the offense and taking over for the last five minutes of the game to secure the victory. Colgate had two shots to potentially win or tie in the final 10 seconds of the game, but failed to convert its opportunities. It was a back-and-forth affair that saw 21 lead changes, 13 of which came in the second half.
Coming off a season in which they went 3-12 in away games (13-18 overall), the Bearcats used a strong defensive effort to fend off Colgate, holding the Raiders to 23-of-56 shooting (41.1 percent), including 3-of-18 on 3-pointers (16.7%). BU head coach Mark Macon said his team’s defensive rotations need work, but he saw progress being made as a result of preseason practice.
‘Our communication was good,’ he said. ‘We still have a long way to go. The coaches see that [Colgate] got two shots to win the game. They got the one that they wanted, then they got the rebound, then they got another one that would have won the game. We need that first stop.’
Colgate forward Yaw Gyawu had a chance to tie the game with 10 seconds left, but missed a layup. Guard Mitch Rolls grabbed the offensive rebound but missed the potential game-winning 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
Rebounding almost cost BU the game. The Bearcats were outrebounded 36-20 and surrendered 13 offensive rebounds to the Raiders, contributing to Colgate’s 19-7 advantage in second chance points. No Bearcat had more than five rebounds. Macon said team rebounding would be key to improvement and that practices will emphasize that phase of the game from now on.
‘A lot of times, guys get caught watching the ball,’ Macon said. ‘Colgate is a pretty good rebounding team, and Bucknell, who we play next, is a good rebounding team. So we have to be aggressive on the boards as a cohesive team.’
BU committed only seven turnovers to Colgate’s 12, which helped bridge the possession gap created by the rebounding deficit. Senior forward Mahamoud Jabbi had a game-high three steals, and BU had eight in total. The Bearcats opportunistically scored 15 points off turnovers, compared to five for Colgate.
‘All the guys were responsible for taking care of the ball,’ Macon said. ‘That doesn’t fall on one person. That’s my staple. They had five more turnovers than we had. That’s a chance to get 10 or 15 points.’
After last Wednesday’s exhibition game against East Stroudsburg University, Macon said he needed his All-Conference first-team forward, Wright, to be aggressive and look for his own shot more often. Wright, who led the team in scoring last year with 15 points per game, shot 8-of-17 from the field and was 9-for-11 from the free throw line against Colgate. He scored 20 of the team’s 33 second-half points, including nine in the last 5:09 of the game. In that span he scored mainly on aggressive drives to the basket, which resulted in him hitting 7-of-9 from the free-throw line in that span. Wright was named America East Player of the Week for his performance in the game.
‘It started in practice,’ Macon said. ‘He started shooting the ball. He figured it out. He knows he has to score for us. He’s still very unselfish, but against Colgate, he was aggressive.’
Junior center Kyrie Sutton scored nine points and blocked five shots, providing a defensive presence in the lane for Binghamton. Senior guard Chretien Lukusa scored nine points and committed zero turnovers in his 38 minutes of play. Freshman forward Alex Ogundadegbe provided a spark for BU in his 13 minutes off the bench, scoring nine points on 4-of-5 shooting while replacing Sutton, who had foul trouble.
‘[Ogundadegbe] actually came in and played a heck of a game,’ Macon said. ‘Defensively, catching the ball, doing a little bit of scoring, playing defense. He got a steal in the middle of the floor and took it in for a layup. He’s still young. He’s got to get back on the boards. This game can’t be your best game of the year. You got to compound upon that.’
Colgate was led by Gyawu, who scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. He received little help, however, as no other Raider scored more than seven points.
Binghamton’s next game is set for tomorrow in Lewisburg, Penn. against Bucknell. The two teams have played close games of late, with Binghamton winning last season’s matchup 64-60.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.