Junior forward Willie Rodriguez glided across the court on his way to a layup, moving as gracefully as his large 6-foot-6 frame allowed. He tallied a season-high 18 points and 10 rebounds against Army on Wednesday night.
For the first time since returning from a hamstring injury two weeks ago, Rodriguez looked like one of the Binghamton men’s basketball team’s most potent offensive threats. But even with his double-double, the Bearcats (8-6) fell to the Black Knights (6-6), 71-60.
Sophomore guard Everson Davis hit what appeared to be a momentum-changing jumper with 3:40 left. Down by just three, it looked as though Binghamton might pull away in what had been a close game. Instead, Army went on an 11-0 run in the game’s final minutes.
“I thought two teams out there tonight played really hard,” said BU head coach Tommy Dempsey.
“We battled over every inch of the court for 40 minutes … we didn’t play a good last three minutes, and it cost us. That’s a very good team and I thought we competed well.”
Freshman forward Matt Wilson led the Black Knights with 15 points in as many minutes of play. Sophomore guard Jordan Fox, Army’s leading scorer this season, was held to just eight points, but also contributed six rebounds and 10 assists.
Despite falling by 11, BU led for much of the first half. The Bearcats went on a 10-0 run with 7:41 remaining in the first before Army responded with a 16-2 run of its own. Entering halftime, the game was tied at 32.
“I was extremely pleased with our effort tonight,” said Army head coach Jimmy Allen. “Binghamton has got out to a great start [this season] and I thought they came out with great effort. I thought our defense got better and better as the game went on.”
Last season, Rodriguez featured as Binghamton’s leading scorer. When he suffered an injury this season, though, redshirt sophomore guard J.C. Show took over. But with Show out for the remainder of this season with a ruptured tricep, Rodriguez will likely earn the title once again. He went 7-for-14 from the field against the Black Knights.
“[Rodriguez] was a tough matchup for them,” Dempsey said. “What we’re going to see going forward is what we saw tonight. We needed to play better around him to get a win but we didn’t.”
With Show out, freshman guard Fard Muhammad, redshirt junior guard Yosef Yacob and senior guard Marlon Beck serve as BU’s go-to point guards. Against the Black Knights, though, none of Binghamton’s guards found their rhythm. The group combined for eight points while shooting 3-for-16 from the field, including 2-for-11 from beyond the arc.
“Everybody gets the opportunities and we try to settle on guys that we feel like are having better games,” Dempsey said. “But none of our guards really got it going tonight.”
Binghamton is set to end nonconference play against Marywood on Dec. 30. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. from the Events Center in Vestal, New York.