Sunday’s regular-season finale is anything but meaningless.
Despite clinching the No. 2 seed for the America East tournament earlier in the week, the Binghamton men’s basketball team will look to build some more momentum at Vermont.
“We are going to try to do everything we can to win the game,” said head coach Al Walker. “If we are fortunate enough to move forward in the tournament and end up facing Albany, this will be a test run for us going into a hostile environment and playing on the road.”
Binghamton (14-12, 11-4 AE) has never won at Vermont (11-15, 7-8 AE), but beat the Catamounts for the first time since 2003 in a double-overtime thriller 61-60 earlier in the season. Even though the Bearcats got the victory, the Catamounts outrebounded them by 24.
“We got killed on the glass, so a big concern for us is rebounding,” Walker said. “Their size is significant.”
While Vermont’s freshman guard Mike Trimboli is only 6-foot-1, the rest of its starting lineup is at least 6-7, which creates several matchup problems for the Bearcats.
Vermont currently sits in third place in the conference after its 69-64 loss to Boston last night in overtime.
The Bearcats clinched the No. 2 seed with their exciting win against UMBC Monday night, but they are still unsure of who they will play in the quarterfinals. Maine is currently in seventh place, one game ahead of UMBC. Maine can clinch the No. 7 seed with a win at Stony Brook or a UMBC loss against Albany.