Tommy Dempsey said his team would need to learn to win by scraping out victories in close games, and Sunday afternoon, Binghamton did just that to give the first-year coach his first win.
The Bearcats (1-4) built a 52-46 lead with 4:03 left. Instead of faltering down the stretch, though, Binghamton displayed poise, defended well and converted enough of its foul shots to beat St. Peter’s, 62-54.
“Honestly, we didn’t look like a team that didn’t know how to close a game,” Dempsey said.
Obviously, Binghamton still has work to do on the closing front. The Bearcats shot 8 of 12 from the line in the final three minutes of play. That’s a respectable number, but at 66.6 percent, it’s not ideal.
But overall, the Bearcats emitted a vibe of confidence down the stretch.
Freshman Jordan Reed played a dominant role in the second half, finishing with 17 points and a school-record 18 rebounds for the game. His nose for the ball off the glass led to two huge tip-slams off Binghamton misses, which, along with his three other dunks, ignited the Events Center crowd as well as the Bearcats as a team.
As a freshman, Reed obviously still has room for development. But that’s what’s so special about him — he has played just three college games, and while he can lead Binghamton now, you can also see how good he can be down the road. Reed has America East Player of the Year potential. He won’t win it this year, but by the time he’s an upperclassmen, he’ll be in the conversation.
“To just be three games in and to have the impact he’s had, he’s going to be a handful,” Dempsey said. “He’s going to be a handful for people going forward, and he’s only going to get better and better because he’s a relentless worker. He loves the game.”
While Reed led the way, several other Bearcats held their own against the Peacocks, who entered at 3-0 with a win over Rutgers. Junior Roland Brown had 15 points and eight rebounds. St. Peter’s rarely double-teamed the 6-foot-8 forward, which helped Binghamton score 22 points in the paint.
Junior K.J. Brown had a nice game with eight points. He also hit 3 of 4 foul shots down the stretch to ice the game.
But Dempsey also made sure to take note of two players whose statlines did not stand out. The coach said freshman Karon Waller, who hadn’t received much playing time recently, and senior Javon Ralling, coming off his four-game suspension, made some “energy plays that kept the building alive, it kept the bench alive, it kept the team alive.” Ralling was much more active than he was last year, crashing the offensive glass and getting on the floor for loose balls, while Waller helped keep some missed free throws alive.
Waller also showed a keen sense of timing at one point in the second half as he pushed the ball up the floor in transition and shoveled a pass to Reed, who posterized his defender.
Once again, senior Jimmy Gray led the Bearcats with four assists. He has logged more minutes at the two this season, but junior Rayner Moquete played just 25 minutes due to foul trouble, leaving Gray the reins of the offense for a solid chunk of the day. The senior finished with six points on just 1-of-7 shooting from the floor, but Dempsey said the former walk-on’s calmness down the stretch helped keep the Bearcats focused on closing the game.
Moquete would eventually foul out, but in his limited time, he managed just three points on 1-of-4 shooting.
Junior Alex Ogundadegbe logged 12 minutes and his three points could not have come at a better time for Binghamton. With 4:26 left, the forward hit 1 of 2 foul shots to give the Bearcats a 50-46 lead. Twenty seconds later, Ogundadegbe laid one in to extend the lead to six.
Senior Taylor Johnston sprained his ankle against Army and was in a boot today. Dempsey said a sprained ankle typically requires seven to 21 days of recovery time but added that Johnston is still being evaluated.
As a team, Binghamton executed its offense effectively against a defensive-minded St. Peter’s team. The Peacocks held Rutgers to 52 points on Nov. 9, and John Dunne’s team perennially boasts one of the nation’s better field goal defenses.
The Bearcats lost the turnover battle, 15-8, but made up for it with a 46-35 advantage on the glass.
With the win, Dempsey said his team faces less pressure moving forward.
“I’d be lying if I said that that first win wasn’t really important,” he said. “Just for this group in particular, after everything they’ve been through, the last thing I wanted was a losing streak that lingered.”