After falling to UMiami 88-64, the Binghamton men’s basketball was unable to bounce back, suffering a 78-63 loss against Fordham in the Bronx. Although the Bearcats got off to a strong start, two dominant streaks from the Rams terminated any chance of a late comeback by BU.

“It was a disappointing loss,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “Because of the way we played and in terms of how we lost the game, I thought that the difference in the game was in our turnovers, and their points off our turnovers. We had 18 turnovers and I want to say they scored about 24 points off them, and we lost the game by 15 points.”

Binghamton (1-3) and Fordham (2-1) were both held scoreless through their respective first three possessions, but sophomore forward Gavin Walsh knocked down two free throws to put the Bearcats on the board 2-0. The Rams answered on the next possession with a three-pointer, but a layup from senior forward Nehemiah Benson put BU up 4-3. Both teams then traded baskets to tie it at six. Soon after, a three-point play from Benson and two consecutive Bearcat dunks saw them take a short-lived 13-6 lead. Fordham immediately embarked on a 22-3 run, capitalizing on seven turnovers and six fouls by the Bearcats to take a 28-16 lead. Binghamton was able to slow down the Rams the rest of the period, outscoring them 12-10 to go into the half down 38-28.

“I thought our fouls hampered us,” Sanders said. “[Graduate student forward Ben Callahan-Gold] is a really big part of what we do, and he gets two early fouls and then [sophomore guard Evan Ashe] gets fouls … On the road, it’s going to be [hard], but we’ve got to be better at adjusting to what’s being called.”

A layup from sophomore guard Jayden Lemond and two buckets from graduate student Tymu Chenery kept BU within 10 early in the second half. However, Callahan-Gold picked up his fourth foul of the game and was substituted out. After a Fordham run saw BU trail by 16 at 50-34, Binghamton’s offense found sparks, and a three-pointer followed by a layup by Callahan-Gold brought the Bearcats within six points, trailing 56-50. Two more fouls and turnovers each for BU, along with a shooting slump saw them concede 14 straight points without scoring once. Callahan-Gold and Benson each sank a jumper to revive hopes of a comeback and put the score at 71-54, but BU’s foul trouble persisted with Lemond, Walsh and Ashe all fouled out of the game. Both teams then put in their bench squads as BU was unable to complete the comeback, falling to Fordham 78-63.

“Missing layups [hurt us in the second half],” Sanders said. “When you’re down by whatever we were down by, and then you bring it back to six, you can’t miss layups. You can’t miss an opportunity to find an open man. We had a couple of plays where we could have made an easier pass or an easier play, but we took a tougher shot.”

Walsh continued the strong start to his sophomore campaign, tallying 10 points, tying a BU program record of 19 rebounds in a single game and securing his second straight double-double. Chenery shot 7-for-14 from the field, good for a Bearcat-high 16 points, while Callahan-Gold was just behind him with 15, after shooting 3-for-6 from beyond the arc in just 14 minutes of play.

“It’s disappointing because we kind of beat ourselves,” Sanders said. “It’s hard to give games away like that. We’ve got to learn from it and be better.”

The Bearcats will return home to face off against Misericordia University on Saturday, Nov. 16. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.