If the Bearcats want to salvage their season, they must turn it around in a hurry.

Halfway through its conference schedule, the Binghamton men’s basketball team has continued to struggle, losing five of its last six games. Late game let downs have been common of late as well, with the last three Bearcat losses coming by a total of only 12 points. They now find themselves in the cellar of the America East standings.

Binghamton’s next game comes this Sunday afternoon when it travels to take on the Retrievers at the RAC Arena in Baltimore. The Bearcats (9-11, 2-6 AE) lost to UMBC (7-13, 3-4 AE) in the conference opener for both teams, 73-71, in a game where Binghamton allowed the Retrievers to shoot 58.8 percent from the floor.

Bearcats head coach Al Walker knows that Binghamton will need a better defensive performance to stop UMBC.

“Its not about UMBC, it’s about us,” Walker said. “It’s about us defending at a much higher level. That was a brutally poor defensive performance.”

The Retrievers may not have a sparkling record, but they do feature an attack that includes some of the top performers in the conference.

Junior Brian Hodges comes into the game averaging 16.1 points per game, good for second in the conference. Senior Mike Housman is averaging 6.3 rebounds per contest and shooting 51 percent from the floor, good for fourth and third in those categories, respectively. Sophomore Jay Greene also leads the America East in assists with 5.5 per game. (All statistics do not include UMBC’s Thursday night game against New Hampshire).

The Bearcats have regressed of late, and need a victory to start the process of righting the ship. Despite escaping with a two-point victory at Hartford on Martin Luther King Day, the team continues to follow a familiar pattern of living and dying by the three-pointer. This approach has failed them by all accounts, especially in the second half.

Over its last six games, Binghamton has shot 36.2 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, but a far from decent 25 percent from long range after halftime. Only one of those games saw the Bearcats shoot a better percentage from deep in the second half, but that was offset when they managed to shoot only 29 percent overall in the second half of that game, falling short against Maine.

The Bearcat defense has also continued to struggle, especially late in games. The last six opponents have shot nearly 47 percent in the second half against the faltering Binghamton defense, the strong point of this squad over the last few years.

Walker recognizes that defense is a problem, but that the problems are about more than just that.

“It’s absolutely the overall group,” he said. “It’s a different makeup of guys. We’ve got to get grittier, we’ve to get smarter and we have to get better for the entire possession as a group. It’s something we’re working on and I hope we’ll see some improvement come Sunday.”

The recent Bearcat shortcomings have caused people to overlook the impending history about to be made for the Binghamton program. Senior Troy Hailey is 14 points short of 1,000 for his career. When he reaches that milestone he will become the first Bearcat to do it in Division I play.

Walker recognizes the importance of the mark his senior guard is on the verge of reaching.

“It’s significant for Troy being the first Division I player in this program to reach 1,000, so that’s a very significant accomplishment and I’m very proud and happy for him,” Walker said.

The view from the bottom of the conference standings shows a long climb up, and with the conference tournament creeping closer, and being held away from Vestal for the first time since 2004, this team needs to turn things around quickly to avoid the potential of being sent home before the tournament even reaches its weekend stage. That turnaround can start Sunday for the Bearcats with the opportunity to avenge their earlier loss to UMBC.

Game time is Sunday at 4 p.m.