After combining for 43 points in last Wednesday’s win over UMBC, sophomore forward Willie Rodriguez and junior guard Marlon Beck were nowhere to be found on offense as the Binghamton men’s basketball team (5-16, 2-6 America East) fell to Maine, 74-63. Rodriguez and Beck, two of the Bearcats’ leading scorers, combined for just eight points and shot 3-for-12 and 0-for-7 from the field, respectively.
Binghamton led by as many as seven points against the Black Bears (8-13, 4-4 AE), only to be outscored, 42-27, in the second half. Sophomore guard Kevin Little led Maine in scoring with 22 points and combined with freshman forward Issac Vann for 41 of the Black Bears’ 74 points.
Shooting 36.9 percent from the field for the season entering the night, the Bearcats are having trouble getting shots to fall this season. From the onset of the contest, they had trouble just getting shots off. Maine’s fast-paced press stunted any offensive production. At the other end of the court, the Black Bears wasted no time from the tip. Utilizing a high-tempo offensive strategy, Maine leapt into the lead with a 13-2 run four minutes into play.
Following the run, the Bearcats figured out the press. BU responded by scoring 34 points in the final 12:48 in the first half to take a 36-32 lead into the locker room.
Down by five with 2:03 remaining in the second half, a missed three-point attempt from sophomore forward Justin McFadden ended any hope of a Binghamton victory as the Black Bears ended the game on 20-6 run. After shooting 47 percent from the field in the first half, Binghamton managed just 32 percent in the second.
The Bearcats were led in scoring by freshman forward Thomas Bruce, who netted a career-high 16 points and shot 6-of-7 from the field. BU as a whole, however, was held to just a 41 percent shooting clip from the field for the contest
“I thought Maine fought really hard in the post,” BU head coach Tommy Dempsey said. “We’re not a great shooting team so they were bringing extra help in there. One-on-one in the post I thought we liked our match-ups … but they brought more help in the second half.”
A bright spot for the Bearcats came off the bench as freshman guard Timmy Rose and sophomore forward Bobby Ahearn tallied 14 and 11 points respectively. Rose, a walk-on, scored his career-high in points as well and has become a key player in recent games, averaging 23.7 minutes in Binghamton’s last three contests, including a season-high 28 minutes in Saturday’s game.
“[Rose] is playing well,” Dempsey said. “As his freshman year here has gone on, he’s got more and more playing time … and with that, he’s getting more and more comfortable out there.”
Until the closing minutes, the two teams were more evenly matched than the final score indicated, but Maine pulled away by making clutch, late free throws to secure the victory and keep it out of Binghamton’s reach.
The Bearcats are set to return to action on Wednesday night against Stony Brook. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from the Island Federal Credit Union Arena in Stony Brook, New York.