Off the back of a hard-fought 66-60 loss at home to Longwood, the Binghamton men’s basketball team was unable to reverse its fortunes on the road at Central Connecticut State on Sunday afternoon, falling 64-56. The team struggled to build offensive momentum in the first, with just 19 points at the half, failing to secure a lead or equalize across 40 minutes of play.

“[Central Connecticut State] didn’t do anything that surprised us,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “Whatever they did, we were prepared for, but we got to get it together with our guys. That’s on me, being able to get our guys to execute better so when we have opportunities, we can take advantage.”

Binghamton (2-5) struggled to get buckets out of the gate against the Blue Devils (3-3), going 0-for-4 from the field in the game’s opening five minutes. This opened the door for a 7-0 run by the hosts. Every time the Bearcats’ offense showed signs of life — such as a three-pointer from graduate student forward Ben Callahan-Gold that put BU within two at 16-14 — the Bearcats failed to execute on the following touches, resulting in the Blue Devils protecting the lead with a seven-point run that made it 23-14. The Bearcats entered halftime down 28-19, having shot just 34.78 percent from the field.

“We only had 19 points at the half,” Sanders said. “Who can we beat scoring that many points? We had some open layups that we missed, and that’s eight to 10 points right there. If you make those layups, it’s a different game … We got to get better offensively. To get better offensively, we need to make shots.”

Looking to reset the tone for the second half, the Bearcats heated up with strong shooting from the perimeter. Graduate student guard Tymu Chenery led this offensive charge with back-to-back scores — first knocking down a three-pointer, then following it up with a steal and an easy layup to make it 30-26. When the Blue Devils responded with a four-point run, Chenery and Callahan-Gold responded with a pair of three-pointers to make it 34-32 and get BU within striking distance. Yet the Bearcats’ inefficiencies and turnovers slammed the door on the comeback attempt, with the Blue Devils holding the lead and not letting it dip below six points the rest of the way. When the final buzzer sounded, the Bearcats ended up with a 64-56 loss.

“There is nowhere to go but up when we score 19 points, if you know what I mean,” Sanders said. “We came out, we won the first media and we were able to cut into the lead. But we kind of put ourselves in a hole where we had to maximize those opportunities where we have to make a tough shot. Just some execution stuff we need to be better at.”

Just two Bearcats left Connecticut with double-digit points on the boxscore, as Chenery put up 16 points as he went four-for-six from the three-point line, while senior forward Nehemiah Benson added 14 points and six rebounds. Similar to the Longwood game from earlier in the week, the offensive rebound battle remained a problem for Binghamton, with just five compared to Central Connecticut State’s 15.

“I asked the players after,” Sanders said. “I asked them, ‘what needs to happen [to get offensive rebounds]?,’ and they said they need to box out and go for the ball. It’s not rocket science. It’s plain and simple.”

The Bearcats are set to partake in three games at the Lafayette Classic next weekend. Play opens against Niagara on Friday, Nov. 29, with tipoff at 2 p.m. at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pennsylvania.