The Bearcats put themselves in a position to win on Saturday, but could not execute on the road as Albany held off BU down the stretch and came away with a 65-62 win at the Big Purple Growl.
With his team leading by three points with 18 seconds left, Albany senior all-conference guard and reigning America East Most Valuable Player Jamar Wilson was sent to the line for two with a chance to potentially ice the game.
But Wilson, a 77 percent free throw shooter entering the game, missed both, giving Binghamton a chance to send the game to overtime.
Junior guard Mike Gordon had a chance to duplicate his magic from Wednesday’s last-second win over Stony Brook, but this time missed a deep 3 as time expired, giving Albany (16-7, 9-2 AE) the victory.
‘It looked good from when I let it go, but it was the shot that we wanted,’ Gordan said, who finished with 15 points and five assists.
The Bearcats (10-13, 3-8 AE) were led by freshman Lazar Trifunovic who had a game-high 22 points, including 15 in the second half.
‘It’s nice to have a low post presence and he is a smart basketball player and he recognizes the ball must go inside and we’ll have better options,’ said head coach Al Walker. ‘Lazar has taken on that responsibility and played a wonderful basketball game.’
Trifunovic, who played all 40 minutes, added five assists while kicking the ball out for open 3-pointers when he was double-teamed. In the first half, Binghamton shot 5-for-12 from beyond the arc; senior Steve Proctor was 3-for-8 from deep heading to intermission.
But Albany made a big adjustment to limit the Bearcat’s 3-point opportunities.
‘In the second half, we said we aren’t going to double [Trifunovic] and allow him to play one-on-one and not let their shooters get in a rhythm,’ said Albany head coach Will Brown.
The strategy worked as the Bearcats shot 3-for-9 in the second half as Proctor was limited to just 0-for-1 while senior Troy Hailey was 1-for-4, finishing with seven points.
Albany shot 47 percent (8-for-17) from 3-point range, led by Jon Iati’s 14 points; he had 11 in the first half and was 4-for-6 from beyond the arc in the contest.
But the biggest difference in the game came at the free throw line. The Great Danes were sent to the charity stripe 23 times and converted 17. Binghamton was whistled for 23 fouls, and is averaging 21 fouls per game. It was the eighth time this season they committed more fouls than made field goals.
In a two-minute span in the middle of the second half, Albany got to the free throw line on five consecutive possessions, hitting nine of the 10 attempts.
‘They played old Binghamton basketball today,’ Brown said. ‘They were physical, defended, hacked, held ‘ they played the way that Binghamton has played the past couple years defensively.’
That Bearcat defense had nine steals and forced 15 Albany turnovers including eight from Wilson. Binghamton is tied for second in the America East averaging 7.83 steals per game; Gordon has a conference leading 2.26 spg.
But on the offensive end, after Trifunovic, Gordon and Proctor, there was not much help. That trio played 40, 40 and 36 minutes respectively, accounting for 75 percent of the team’s offense. Giovanni Olomo had four points and four rebounds in 19 minutes and fouled out with 5:32 left in the game, just 20 seconds after picking up his fourth foul.
Binghamton again got little bench production, totaling two field goals attempted and just two points, all coming from senior Duane James who played 18 minutes.
‘We would like to see the bench be more productive but they weren’t,’ Walker said. ‘This is our basketball team.’
Binghamton is now 2-6 in conference games decided by five points or less this season. The team is still trying to find ways to win late, though Walker was pleased with how his team battled.
‘I thought we played a very good basketball game and I am really happy with our team,’ he said. ‘Our poise, our toughness, our composure, I am very, very proud of our team.’
The Bearcats, who now sit tied for last place with Stony Brook, have five games left before the conference tournament. Their next game will be at Boston, which is the host site of the America East tournament this year, on Thursday at 7 p.m.