The men’s basketball team started its season on Wednesday night with an exhibition win over Queens College, 83-70. The Knights would bring the fight to BU early, but the Bearcats would eventually gain their footing to capture the victory.

“A lot of times, you play these [exhibition] games and you blow some of these teams out, and you never get an opportunity to face any adversity,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “So it’s good for us. It’s good for us to do it early. It’s good for us to have to be able to get stops and execute on the offensive end and make free throws.”

Binghamton started strongly to open the game as graduate student forward Ben Callahan-Gold swished a three-pointer, but Queens College would respond with an and-one layup to tie things up 3-3. Much of the early game was defined by efficient shooting from the Knights keeping BU down in the box score. This didn’t stop BU from showing flashes of control though, as sophomore guard Jayden Lemond found redshirt junior guard Chris Walker for a three-pointer that turned into a four-point play — off of a foul — to retake a 9-8 lead. Yet, the Knights continued to control the pace of play, going on a five-point run to hold an 18-13 advantage.

“I thought we had some turnovers in the first half that I’m okay with because we want to play faster,” Sanders said. “So we want to get the ball up the court. We want to try to score as quickly as possible. Some of those passes that we threw ahead, I thought was good because I think it’ll pay off for us down the line.”

The tides would turn, however, when graduate student guard Tymu Chenery checked back in. The co-captain’s presence helped bring the lead back to BU as Walker drove in a layup for a 23-22 lead. Binghamton did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the period, thanks to dominant post play from senior forward Nehemiah Benson, stringing together three layups leading to a 36-24 advantage. A backdoor pass from Lemond to Walker for two cemented a 43-27 BU advantage heading into the break.

“We don’t necessarily need one guy to dominate the basketball,” Sanders said. “If [sophomore forward Gavin Walsh] rebounds the ball, I want him to push the ball up the court. If [Benson] rebounds the ball, I want him to push the ball to court. If [Callahan-Gold] rebounds the ball, I want him to push up the court. So we don’t necessarily need our point guard to be the main focus, but when we don’t have anything quickly then we kind of get into our secondary stuff. Then we can have [Lemond] come and get the ball and get us into offense.”

Looking to build on the team’s lead, Walsh got the offense going quickly with a pair of free throws and a layup to make it a 47-32 game. The game would then turn into a battle of fouls and free throws, with the Bearcats holding a 50-41 advantage. BU gained momentum as Chenery and Walsh ran the ball downcourt to create a driving-and-one layup for Chenery, going up 53-41. Queens College did not go away quietly, but Benson took care of business down low to make it 72-65. A Callahan-Gold three-pointer would be the dagger, capping off Binghamton’s exhibition with an 83-70 win.

Leading the stat sheet by shooting 75 percent from the field was Benson, who contributed 22 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes of play. Walker, meanwhile, contributed in all facets with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Lemond dropped seven dimes with just one turnover in his Bearcat debut.

“The version that you saw today is what I thought [Walker] could be,” Sanders said. “[Walker] is very skilled … I think the one thing we always try to get [Walker] to do is to be a playmaker, and not just solely think about scoring. I think when most of the guys try to be playmakers it is really good for the team.”

The Bearcats’ next match will be one of the toughest of their preseason, as they pay a visit to Penn State next Monday, Nov. 4. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania.