After being routed by VCU last Friday, the Binghamton men’s basketball team bounced back with an 18-point victory over Ave Maria on Tuesday before falling to Florida Gulf Coast University, 69-53, on Wednesday night.
BU (3-2) headed south to begin its four-game Florida road trip with a matchup against Ave Maria (2-4). The Bearcats defeated the Gyrenes, 95-77, setting a new program record for points recorded in a game.
“I thought overall we did a lot of really good things, we played really well on offense,” said BU head coach Tommy Dempsey. “Ave Maria plays a tough style to play against; they play very fast.”
Junior forward Bobby Ahearn, who scored just four points against VCU, put the team on his back against Ave Maria. Ahearn contributed a career-high 27 points, shot 85 percent from the field and corralled five rebounds during the game. In the first half alone, Ahearn made eight of nine shots, putting on quite the show offensively.
Ahearn was not the only who impressed against Ave Maria. Sophomore guard Timmy Rose helped command the offense, tallying 10 assists and only committing two turnovers. Rose also added a steal during his 24 minutes of action.
“We were able to really use our depth,” Dempsey said. “I thought we had a lot of contribution to guys, not only that started but that came off the bench. We found a really good balance. Bobby [Ahearn] had a really good game.”
The Bearcats made 60 percent of their field goals and put on a clinic at the line, cashing in on 26 of 33 attempts. BU capitalized on the confidence-boosting opportunity after scoring just 42 points against VCU in its previous matchup.
The major factors in picking up the win against the Gyrenes were points off turnovers and bench points. Binghamton’s bench came to play on Tuesday, outscoring Ave Maria’s bench by 30 and contributing to a 25-point lead late in the second half. Additionally, BU took advantage of the 14 Gyrene turnovers by tallying 24 points, one block and six steals.
BU is still without the offensive prowess of junior forward Willie Rodriguez. The matchup with the Gyrenes marked Rodriguez’s fourth missed game of the season, as he continues to struggle with a recurring hamstring injury. The team hopes to have the forward back soon, but will not risk rushing his recovery in its upcoming games.
“Even though we have some guys hurting a little bit, we do have overall pretty good depth,” Dempsey said. “So hopefully that will help us as we’re down here for four games in such a short period of time.”
Against FGCU (2-3) on Wednesday night, the Bearcats failed to repeat the same success in their first of two Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament matchups. Binghamton got off to a slow start against the Eagles, finding itself in a 15-2 hole just over six minutes into play. The Bearcats’ play improved as the game progressed and they were outscored by just three in the second half, when junior forward Dusan Perovic led the squad with nine points.
“Give credit to Florida Gulf Coast … their guards are elite defenders,” Dempsey said. “You tend to look at ourselves but sometimes the other team plays really well on defense. I thought in particular, though, we played a good, hard second half and played them nearly even.”
BU is set to take the court again on Thursday against Long Beach State University. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Fort Myers, Florida.