One minute into the Binghamton men’s basketball team’s game against Maine on Saturday, junior guard Marlon Beck swished a three-pointer. Beck then hit another. And another.
Beck scored nine points in a 2:44 span and, combined with a dominant performance from sophomore forward Willie Rodriguez, led the Bearcats (8-21, 5-11 America East) to a 78-66 victory over the Black Bears (8-21, 4-12 AE). Rodriguez scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the game, while Beck finished with 14.
The win propelled Binghamton to the fifth seed in the upcoming America East (AE) Tournament, the highest seed BU has had in postseason play since 2009, when the team won the conference championship.
“We didn’t necessarily have the year we had hoped to have in a lot of ways, but at the same time, we’re focused on progress,” said BU head coach Tommy Dempsey. “We thought that if we can win [against Maine] and get to that fifth spot, then that would be a clear sign of progress and something that we can build off.”
The Bearcats had an up-and-down 2015-16 regular season. BU dropped 11 of 12 between December 5 and January 21, and struggled to score the ball for most of the season, registering 65 or more points just six times in its first 21 games. Binghamton finished the regular season ranked last in the America East in scoring offense, averaging just 61.2 points per contest. The next closest team, Hartford, scored nearly 10 more points per game.
But, Binghamton was consistently strong on the defensive end of the floor — finishing the regular season third in the conference in scoring defense (69.1 points per game) — and, for the second consecutive year, ended the season playing its best basketball down the final stretch.
Binghamton was victorious in three of its five final games and finished the season with eight victories, the most the team has recorded in Dempsey’s four years at the helm of the program.
A main reason for the Bearcats’ late-season turnaround was a vastly improved offense. BU eclipsed 65 points in four of its last five contests and developed increased scoring options throughout the season. Leading the Bearcat offense all year long was Rodriguez — who finished the year averaging 15.0 points per game, fourth in the AE — and Beck, who knocked down 2.5 3-pointers per contest, third in the AE.
Joining the BU scoring threats in the latter portion of the season were freshman forward Thomas Bruce and sophomore forward Bobby Ahearn. Bruce scored in double-figures in four of BU’s last six games, including 12 and 11 points, respectively, in victories over Hartford and UMass Lowell, while Ahearn reached double-figures in BU’s last three games. He recorded his first career double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) in the Bearcats loss at UMBC on Wednesday.
“Offensively we’ve progressed,” Dempsey said. “I think we’ve scored the ball better, individually guys have gotten better and more confident and we look like we have more options out there right now.”
The Bearcats are set to travel to face New Hampshire — the fourth seed — in the quarterfinal round of the America East Tournament on Wednesday. In the team’s first meeting of the season, January 9 in Durham, BU shot just 36.2 percent from the field, scored just 16 points in the first half and was defeated, 58-43. But, a month later in the Events Center, the Bearcats played right with the Wildcats (18-11, 11-5 AE). BU held a 23-21 lead at halftime and led with just under four minutes to play, but failed to hold on, falling 59-55.
“I think guys are excited, I think guys know that we have a chance to win a playoff game on Wednesday night,” Dempsey said. “It’s not like you’re playing a team that’s kicked you around a couple of times … I think overall we’re in about as good a place that we can be. Now, you just have to go and play the game.”
Tip-off for the quarterfinal match-up is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from the Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire.