A double-digit loss to Boston University. Sole possession of last place.

Something had to change.

Men’s basketball head coach Al Walker called a team meeting and talked about togetherness and having one another’s backs during the entire course of the game.

It worked.

The Bearcats looked like a new team on Sunday, and the results showed as Binghamton handily defeated the Maine Black Bears 67-40 in front of a season-high 4,587 fans at the Events Center.

‘Sticking together really helped us on the defensive end,’ said senior guard Mike Gordon, who finished with 18 points and five steals. ‘You have to want the ball. That was the key today. We got deflections on rebounds and then had teammates come up with the ball, and that really showed our togetherness.’

Binghamton (11-14, 4-9 AE) out-rebounded Maine by a margin of 46-28, led by freshman Lazar Trifunovic’s 11 boards. Junior Giovanni Olomo and sophomore Jaan Montgomery added season-highs of 10 and seven, respectively.

The Bearcat defense shut down the Black Bears’ offense, holding it to 29 percent (13-for-45) from the floor, including 3-for-14 from behind the arc. Senior Jon Sheets, averaging 11.3 ppg entering the game, was held to three points, and Chris Buff, who leads the conference in field goal percentage, had just five points, shooting 2-for-8. Senior Kevin Reed led Maine (11-14, 6-7 AE) with 13 points but shot only 4-for-11 from the field.

‘The key today was our defense,’ said Trifunovic, who picked up his first collegiate double-double, adding 15 points to his 11 rebounds. ‘This year we can really execute on offense but we couldn’t do both at the same time. We did that today.’

On the offensive end, junior Richard Forbes had 18 points in 27 minutes and shot 7-of-16, sparking the Bearcats. Forbes checked in 4 1/2 minutes into the game, with BU holding a 6-5 lead, and over the next seven minutes Binghamton went on a 16-2 run to extend its lead to 22-7. Forbes scored 10 straight points in that span, 14 total in the first half, helping the Bearcats to a 38-17 lead at the break.

The Bearcats never looked back, as they used a 17-3 run in the middle of the second half to open up a 35-point lead, their biggest of the game, and kept the game well in hand the rest of the way.

Forbes, who entered the game averaging 11.7 ppg, had been struggling as of late on both sides off the ball but is working hard to improve, especially on the defensive side.

‘I’m letting myself down and not working as hard as I did when I first got here,’ Forbes said. ‘When I’m making shots, I get hyped and more energetic and get a couple more stops.’

BU goes on the road for two games, at New Hampshire this Thursday and at Vermont on Sunday, before returning home for senior day against Hartford on the Feb. 22.

The team will have momentum after its strong showing on Sunday, but big wins earlier in the season against Miami and Albany did not propel the Bearcats in their subsequent games. The Bearcats are hoping this time things will be different.

‘Everybody wanted it, but everybody wants it more now,’ Gordon said. ‘You can want something, but it’s how bad you want it.’

Forbes shared a similar confidence: ‘A game like this proves to everybody we can play. It’s a real big boost for the rest for the season.’