Playing from behind is never an easy thing to do, but this past Saturday, the Binghamton University men’s basketball team proved that even though you might be down, you are never out.
The Bearcats recorded a huge 83-77 come-from-behind win over the University of Maine.
“There was no rhyme or reason to it, but hey, I’ll take the win,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin Broadus.
Binghamton (13-8, 6-3 AE) started the game looking sluggish, falling behind 10-2 in the opening five minutes to the Black Bears (8-14, 3-6 AE). At the outset, the Bearcats looked to have no answer for the Maine attack, which was led in the half by freshman guard Gerald McLemore, who had 10 points. Maine’s leading scorer, junior Mark Socoby, added eight points in the half. He finished with a team-high 17 points.
The low point for the Bearcats was around the nine-minute mark in the first half, when they trailed by 15 points. The bright spot for the Bearcats, the play of sophomore guard Brandon Herbert, who scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half, kept the team in the mix heading into the second half. He was 5-6 from the floor.
“At both ends of the floor, he’s playing hard,” Broadus said. “And we’re going to keep going to him.”
Facing a nine-point deficit coming out of the locker room for the second half, the Bearcats played tough defense and were able to convert on roughly 55 percent of their shots, eventually taking the lead, 52-51, on a layup by junior forward D.J. Rivera. The team never looked back, maintaining the lead for the remainder of the game.
Through the tough gritty play of Rivera, Herbert and junior Malik Alvin, the Bearcats were able to shut down the Maine offense, causing nine turnovers in the half and 12 overall.
“The front line players for Binghamton made statements,” said Maine head coach Ted Woodward. “They were able to do a good job of attacking in the second half, and I thought they played well together as a group.”
Broadus, however, attributed the win to a true team effort and a sense of who the team was really playing for.
“Pride is the main thing; I always tell the guys, the name on the front of your jersey is who you play for, not the name on the back,” Broadus said. “You’ve got to have pride when you wear that jersey.”
Late in the second half, Alvin launched a rainbow 3-pointer that easily found the bottom of the net. The shot put Binghamton up 74-70, and was the proverbial dagger in the heart for the Black Bears.
“It was a comfortable shot, so I just took it,” Alvin said.
Alvin finished the game with 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Rivera, the America East scoring leader, finished with 23 points on 10-15 shooting.
When asked what made the difference in the game, Alvin was quick to point out the defensive superiority of himself and his teammates.
“When all five of us play defense, we’re a very hard team to beat,” he said.
Broadus, however, pointed to another source that may have had something to do with the outcome of the affair.
“What a great crowd we had today,” he said. “The best feeling today was to come out of the locker room and see the fans, the community … it was an unbelievable feeling.”
With roughly three minutes to go in the game, Broadus stepped away from the Binghamton bench and repeatedly raised his hands in the air, urging the 4,923 spectators in attendance to support the home team. The crowd responded in turn by nearly blowing the roof off of the Events Center with the sheer volume and level of intensity. The crowd was the largest ever at a regular season game at the Events Center, which celebrated its five-year anniversary of opening on Saturday.
“I was sitting on the bench, and I was thinking to myself, ‘If I can think through this, something’s not right,’” Broadus said. “Our crowd is the best in the league, and I want them to help will us to win.”
The team will have to do without the home crowd tomorrow when they travel to Burlington for a showdown with first place University of Vermont (16-6, 7-2 AE). Binghamton is currently third in the conference, but was able to defeat the Catamounts, 91-83, in overtime on Jan. 8, at the Events Center.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Patrick Gym.