This may not be the premier battle of the titans, but the way things are going right now, it’s awfully close.
Coming off their thrilling win against Vermont, the Bearcats, now 9-9 on the season and sitting atop the America East Conference at 6-1, will face their biggest challenge of the season this Saturday when the Great Danes of Albany visit the Events Center.
Albany, which is 11-8 overall and 6-2 in conference play, also comes in playing well, having won nine of its last 11 games, a streak that started with a 70-65 win over Binghamton in December.
But that was then, and this is now. After their loss to Albany the Bearcats were 2-7, had lost their only conference game and were showing little reason for optimism. But things have changed since then, and this fight for first place is sure to be an exciting one.
“This game is huge,” said BU head coach Al Walker. “Albany was a team that beat us… they physically manhandled us.”
Walker continued, “They’re going to tell their guys, ‘They were outrebounded by 24 [against Vermont],’ so the Albany players are going to be flying to the glass, and we have to make sure we’re playing stronger than we did, especially in the first half, come Saturday.”
Binghamton has won its last six games not so much with offensive firepower, but with a defense that has gotten much better over the past month. Albany will counter with a squad led by Jamar Wilson, who has the conference’s second-highest scoring average.
Albany head coach Will Brown knows he has some offensive firepower, but will have to find a way to break down the Bearcat defense to win.
“Binghamton’s done a good job of winning with their team defense,” Brown said. “They force teams to be passive. They’ve done a very good job collectively on the defensive end of the floor.
“If we’re aggressive offensively, we’ll be fine, but anytime you can shoot in the 20s offensively and win like they did against Vermont, that says a lot about their team defense,” he added.
Both teams have stepped up their performance of late in a conference that is as wide open as it has been in years. This leaves both teams with a lot to play for in a season where seedings in the America East tournament could go a long way in determining who gets to play in the NCAA tournament this spring.
The Great Danes currently hold the tiebreaker advantage, should these two teams end the season in a first-place tie. That means if the two teams were to finish tied and meet again in the America East conference final, Albany would host the game.
A victory over the Great Danes would help the Bearcats extend their conference lead and their hope to host such a game if it were to happen, making this game all the more important.
And coming off their most emotional win of the year, Binghamton is confident.
“They’re a very good team, we’re also a very good team,” said junior Duane James. “If we do the little things like we did [against Vermont] at a high level, we’ll be fine.”
There is still a lot of basketball to be played, but for now the game against Albany should give Bearcat country a good idea of where Binghamton ranks in the America East. The team is riding high, but a poor showing against Albany could be costly.