A crowded SEFCU Arena on the campus of SUNY Albany, mostly covered in a field of green, waiting for what was possibly going to be a gut-wrenching play by a determined New Hampshire squad.
Eleven seconds to go. The score stood at 68-67 Bearcats.
Down one point, the Wildcats set the stage for the presumed final play of the game. Tensions are high, the time on the clock is ticking down. The Bearcats are 11 seconds away from bringing the America East Championship title to Vestal, but they are also 11 seconds from watching it slip away from their sweat-drenched fingertips.
Then “it” happened.
The ball was inbounded and chaos followed. The ball grazed the fingers of Binghamton University junior D.J. Rivera, who steamed full-speed down the court toward a wall of screaming Bearcats fans.
Then came the slam dunk, and the arena erupted.
Binghamton extended their lead to three with six seconds left. The ecstatic crowd experiences deja vu, as UNH once again inbounds the ball to a Binghamton player.
The Bearcats then edged out the Wildcats, 72-67.
The game was roughly a two-hour drive from Binghamton University’s campus, though this did not prevent it from having a home game feeling. The contest was played before 3,656 fans.
The game was similar to the last meeting between the two teams, which was held at Binghamton’s Events Center.
Ugly shooting numbers, physical play, a close score and late-game heroics by Binghamton were the themes in both games.
“They played hard for 40 minutes,” Binghamton head coach Kevin Broadus said of New Hampshire. “We were lucky tonight to come out on top.”
The Wildcats fell behind 20-10 midway through the first half on Sunday due to a very effective full-court press by Binghamton.
“They’re so quick, they really make it difficult,” said New Hampshire head coach Bill Herrion. “When they extend defensively, they really put you in tough spots.”
However, the Wildcats would eventually compose themselves and figure out how to break Binghamton’s press with ease, which led to a 10-0 run to knot the score at 20 with 6:52 left in the first half.
The Wildcats would continue their strong play and take a 36-34 lead at the half. Despite losing more games than they won, the Wildcats were 6-1 when leading at the half going into Sunday’s game.
However, the Bearcats showed that finishing the regular season as the top team in the conference was no fluke.
“That halftime speech we had today is priceless,” Broadus said. “There was a lot of shouting and tears going on. We regrouped and got our heads together [for the second half].”
Neither team was able to build more than a five-point lead after intermission.
Binghamton utilized the same full-court press that gave the Wildcats trouble in the first half to build a small lead midway through the second half, though the Wildcats fought right back by slowing the game down and executing in the half court.
As the end of the game neared and the score was still close, the “Cardiac Cats” — a nickname given to the Bearcats for their knack to win games in such dramatic fashion — looked as if they might be out of magical finishes.
New Hampshire was able to score almost at will toward the end of the game. While the Bearcats struggled to stay focused defensively, the Wildcats scored on five of six possessions between the five and two minute marks of the second half.
Binghamton managed to hold a one-point lead with 18 seconds left to play thanks to more clutch plays by junior Emanuel Mayben, senior forward Reggie Fuller and junior guard D.J. Rivera.
With the Bearcats leading 68-67 and the ball in Mayben’s hands, things seemed to be in Binghamton’s favor. However, Mayben would drive the lane with just under 20 seconds left to play in the half and get whistled for an offensive foul. The Wildcats inbounded the ball and made it past half court before calling a timeout with 13 seconds left on the game clock, still trailing by one point.
“Last time we played them, we won by one point,” Broadus said. “I was thinking in my mind, ‘Please, this time, don’t let them make the last shot.’”
Then “the play” happened.
“That’s the type of plays that MVPs make,” Broadus said.
As the final buzzer sounded after the grueling game, Mayben tossed the ball into the stands in the direction of Rivera’s family before celebrating with the rest of his teammates. Commenting on the team’s knack for winning close games, Rivera explained, “We feel like the game isn’t over until there is no time left on the clock.”
The Bearcats were joined by a stampeding group of Binghamton students who rushed the court to celebrate the biggest victory in the school’s history. Both Binghamton alumni and current students did a great job of supporting the team all weekend at the conference tournament.
Rivera had been dealing with knee problems all week and had to be taken to the training room in the second half due to hamstring cramps.
“If [Rivera] wouldn’t have gotten [the steal with 11 seconds left], it would have been a sad bus ride home,” Broadus said.
Now the Bearcats will have the opportunity to get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating defending conference champion UMBC, who lost in last year’s NCAA tournament to Georgetown University, where Broadus served as the top assistant before arriving at Binghamton last season.
The game will be held this Saturday at the Events Center at 11 a.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN2.