Unlike past years, Al Walker’s team does not have a true “face to the basket” center, but that didn’t slow them down in the first exhibition game of the season.
With the starting five all under 6’6”, the new look run-and-gun offense was on display Friday night in front of 4,663 fans at the Events Center, where the Binghamton men’s basketball team had no trouble handling the Division II Mansfield Mountaineers 94-71.
“What we lack in size, we make up with speed,” said senior forward Sebastian Hermenier.
Senior Andre Heard got the team off to a quick start, scoring the game’s first 10 points, and sophomore Mike Gordon scored a team-high 18 points, while adding eight assists.
“Mike has the potential to be a very good player,” Walker said. “And Andre is a proven scorer.”
The Bearcats did not hesitate to pull the trigger on offense as they attempted 27 three-pointers, 19 of those coming in the first half. While the Bearcats know they can drain the outside shot, there is still a lack of an interior presence on offense. Hermenier had five points before fouling out while sophomore Jordan Fithian added six points.
“It would be nice to have a low post player to go to, and draw foul or get a finish late in a close game,” Walker said.
This was evident as Binghamton got to the foul line just 16 times, only twice in the first half, while committing 29 fouls.
“Some of those were screening fouls, but it slows down the pace we would like to play at,” Walker said.
The Bearcats did get a boost down low from 6’9” red-shirt freshman Ian Milne and 6’6” junior Duane James. Both players netted 12 points, while James added a team-high seven rebounds.
“It felt great to finally step out on the court,” Milne said. “I shot threes early, but felt comfortable on the low block.”
While this was only a Division II team, let’s not forget Binghamton lost their first exhibition game last year to a D-II St. Rose team.
This year’s Bearcats showed spurts of an unstoppable offense, and the team seemed to click together as a unit, which is something you can’t teach.
“I think we have good chemistry,” Walker said. “I think that’s going be an important factor. They trust each other.”