This was one they could’ve had.

Little mistakes at the most inopportune times kept Binghamton from shocking conference champion Vermont on Sunday, in a game that was much closer than the final 10-point margin indicated.

‘It was a good game,’ said head coach Al Walker. ‘We played very hard on the defensive end and held our own on the glass in the second half.’

Vermont hit the first field goal of the game and never trailed, but the Bearcats never let the lead balloon past seven until 1:31 remained in the second half. The Catamounts sealed the deal with free throws to compile the final 10-point deficit, 71-61.

A Mike Gordon 3-pointer tied the game at 49-49 with 6:47 remaining, but Vermont went on a quick 7-0 run, capped by a Kyle Cieplicki 3-pointer with 5:09 left.

Vermont (21-6, 13-1), winners of nine straight, kept the lead by avoiding the tiny errors that kept haunting the Bearcats: Lazar Trifunovic dribbled the ball off his foot near mid-court. Gordon, the team’s captain, missed the front end of a crucial 1-and-1.

And most memorably, Minja Kovacevic blew a wide-open dunk that would have cut the Vermont lead to one and silenced the sell-out crowd at Patrick Gymnasium.

‘[Those mistakes are] the difference between a 13-1 team and a 4-10 team,’ Walker said.

The freshman attempted to muscle the ball down, but lost the handle in the air. The ball rolled around the rim and dropped in as the hulky forward comically wrestled down the iron.

Referees immediately whistled the bucket no good due to offensive interference. Kovacevic unleashed a superhuman scream in frustration, but Walker downplayed the incident.

‘Minja didn’t finish, but he caught the ball, which has been a positive for us,’ Walker said. ‘He was a physical presence, particularly on the glass, and made some good plays.’

Vermont struggled mightily from downtown, hitting just 2-of-15 3-pointers for the day, but made up for it at the free-throw line, hitting 27-of-34 (79 percent). Player of the Year candidate Mike Trimboli was a perfect 12-for-12 from the stripe.

When the teams first met on Jan. 21, Trimboli managed but seven points. Sunday, he netted a career-high 27.

‘[Trimboli] made two great plays ‘ one on the block when he banked it over Mike, and the other a little dribble hand off and made a floater in the lane,’ Walker said.

The Bearcats threw everything they had at Vermont center Chris Holm, the second-leading rebounder in the country, but Holm still managed a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds).

The game was televised regionally on MSG, and ex-Vermont head coach Tom Brennan was in attendance.

With the win, the Catamounts clinched the regular season title and guaranteed themselves a postseason berth. Under a new NCAA policy, if they don’t win the America East conference tournament, the Catamounts are guaranteed a berth in the NIT tournament.

The Bearcats will play New Hampshire tonight in a game Binghamton must win if it hopes to stay out of last place in the conference. The Bearcats are tied in last with Stony Brook at 4-10, while New Hampshire sits right above them at 5-9.

‘This is a gigantic game,’ Walker said. ‘Whatever has happened to this point in time, the positives have to be reflected into tomorrow’s competition.’

– Ben Masur contributed to this article.