After a season of ups and downs, the Binghamton men’s basketball team’s 2024-25 campaign came to an end at the hands of No. 4 Albany in the America East quarterfinals 69-66. Trailing by double digits for much of the second half, a late offensive burst put the Bearcats in striking distance of the lead. However, a late timeout halted BU’s momentum as the Great Danes ran away with the game.

“[It was a] hard fought battle, big-time conference tournament game,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “[We] kind of dug ourselves in a hole a little bit, and then we fought our butts off to get back into the game. A little overcoaching cost us the opportunity to tie the game up, but proud of my guys, but obviously it’s disappointing.”

The foes wasted no time scoring, with Albany (17-16, 8-8 AE) swishing a long two off the tipoff and sophomore forward Gavin Walsh responding with a three-pointer to give a 3-2 lead to Binghamton (15-17, 7-9 AE). Back-and-forth runs characterized the opening minutes, as the Bearcats faced a 13-8 deficit when they built a seven-point run to retake a 15-13 lead, kickstarted by a step-back three-pointer from redshirt junior guard Chris Walker. With 12 minutes left in the half, both teams were tied at 17.

“I think our mindset was just that it was do or die,” said senior forward Nehemiah Benson, who finished his last game at BU with a team-leading 19 points. “Give everything you can to be able to just try to get the outcome that you really wanted, and the outcome was [a] win. I think the statement that I want to leave out there is I gave it my all, trying to be the best version of myself I can, not only for myself, but for my teammates as well and for my coaches as well.”

Albany, however, started to pull away after a six-point run to go up 26-21. The Great Danes built their gap by protecting the rim and controlling the paint — the hosts out-rebounded BU 20-13 and made six blocks on the half. Frequently boxed out, the Bearcats struggled to find opportunities. When BU cut into a 31-24 Albany advantage after a three-point play from Benson, Albany responded with a pair of threes and an eight-point run to make it 39-27. While graduate student forward Ben Callahan-Gold had the final points of the period off a three-pointer, BU entered the half down 39-30.

“Two of the keys to the game were not turning the basketball over and rebounding the basketball,” Sanders said. “So we did one, but they out-rebounded us by 11 and then 16 offensive rebounds. Not a ton of second-chance points, but it just showed that they were the aggressors.”

Albany cut inside for two to open the second half up 41-30, but it was soon 41-32 after a pair of free throws from Benson. The big man continued to be a difference maker inside with consecutive layups that cut Albany’s lead down to 46-42. Yet Albany hit a three-point play in response and went back up 55-45 through continued control over the boards and strong finishes inside.

Leading by double digits, the Great Danes left the door open with their inefficient play. Trailing 66-52, sophomore guard Evan Ashe slammed in a dunk to begin a 10-point run for BU, which was capped by a three from senior guard Wes Peterson Jr to make it 66-62. Binghamton kept bringing the pressure, as Ashe finished another drive inside to get within two at 68-66. After a critical stop, graduate student guard Tymu Chenery appeared to get the game-tying shot up but it was nullified by a timeout from Sanders. Binghamton’s final chance at an answer came from the perimeter by Callahan-Gold, but the shot bounced out and time expired as Albany held on 69-66.

“So all we wanted to really do was we wanted to get Tymu into a high-ball screen and let him create,” Sanders said. “I saw us get down to the corner, and it didn’t look like we were really going anywhere and so I called the timeout — and that’s why I said overcoaching — and then he makes a shot.”

The Bearcats finished with a 15-17 record overall, going 7-19 against their AE opponents. All-conference honors were awarded to Chenery, Walsh and Callahan-Gold — netting second-team, third-team and all-academic team nods — while Sanders secured his signature AE win by snapping BU’s 22-game losing streak to Vermont. Entering an offseason with key players like Chenery and Benson graduating while contending with the transfer portal era of college sports, Sanders said his main goal is to find good people for his team.

“I think the most important thing is you have to get good people in your organization,” Sanders said. “Because if you don’t, then it doesn’t matter what you’re going to try to do basketball-wise. It’s not going to work. We’ve got a lot of work to try to find good people. The basketball stuff we can help them with but it’s going to be, every year, the same thing.”