The saying “don’t kick a man when he’s down” gets a little dubious when both you and the other guy are down.
That’s what happened when Binghamton and UMBC — both of whose rosters are severely depleted — went head-to-head on Wednesday night.
But the Bearcats (3-20, 2-6 America East), sporting a 10-man deep squad, came out of Retrievers Activity Center with a dominant 68-56 win over their hosts, who have just seven active players.
Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez, who has reached double-figures in scoring in eight of his last 10 games, led the Bearcats with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists. And for once, fewer of his points came in the second half than in the first. The 6-foot-6 Orlando, Florida native scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first frame, inciting a 7-0 run at the opening gate to set the pace of the game.
During that time, the Retrievers (3-18, 1-7 AE) hit 50 percent of their shots — meaning, they went 1 for 2 from the floor in the first three minutes, thanks to three turnovers stripping them of looks.
That’s the kind of start UMBC had.
Between the Bearcats’ hefty defense and the Retrievers’ sloppy ball-handling, UMBC committed 11 miscues in the first 12 minutes, leading to 10 BU points. The team hit just 33 percent of its shots from the floor in that time and were down by as many as 14.
Binghamton, on the other hand, was atypically accurate. Shooting a conference-low 38.9 percent from the floor this season, Binghamton hit 48 percent of its field goals through the half, which allowed the Bearcats to enter the locker room with a 11-point lead, 33-24.
Not just Rodriguez, but nearly all of the Bearcats were getting shots early. Behind Rodriguez’s 10, sophomore guard Marlon Beck II followed up with seven points and freshman guards Romello Walker and Justin McFadden contributed six and five, respectively. The team was looking like a well-oiled machine over UMBC, committing just three turnovers in the first period.
Come the second half, the Retrievers showed they wouldn’t roll over. They opened the frame on an 8-3 run behind 3-pointers from freshman guard Jourdan Grant and sophomore guard Ben Grace. A dunk from senior forward Devarick Houston later, and the Retrievers were within four, 36-32.
Binghamton retaliated quickly, however, with buckets from freshman center Bobby Ahearn and Walker hiking the lead back up to eight, 40-32.
From there on out, the game was Binghamton’s. The Bearcats ended the night with a 12-point lead after receiving offensive contributions from all but one player who took the floor.
Following Rodriguez in scoring for BU was Ahearn, with 11 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Karon Waller and Beck chipped in nine points apiece, with Beck adding six rebounds and a game-high six assists.
For UMBC, Jourdan Grant scored a game-high 20 points to go with six rebounds and three assists.
Though the night went well for Binghamton, it was a bit disappointing for UMBC, who received some unfortunate news before they even lost. 2014 Rookie of the Year Rodney Elliott has been out since the beginning of the season with a shoulder injury, and that’s been trying enough. But the kicker came when graduate transfer guard Wayne Sparrow, who leads UMBC with 13.8 points a game in 2014-15, was announced ineligible to play for the remainder of the season.
So here’s a dark horse story for you: In comes 5-foot-10 sophomore walk-on Ben Grace. He’d averaged just two points in 11.4 minutes per game when he took the court Wednesday night. But he took it as a starter, and then he poured in 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting from 3-point range. He was one of just six players to take the court for UMBC against Binghamton.
Things aren’t so glum for Binghamton. The Bearcats currently have a short front court with injuries to 6-foot-9 big men Dusan Perovic and Nick Madray, but Madray may be returning relatively soon. Regardless, head coach Tommy Dempsey praised his starting five on Tuesday, remarking on how well they’re doing. Even when he does return, Madray likely won’t be kicking any of them out of the lineup.
Behind its second win of the season, Binghamton has moved up to the sixth in playoff standings.
Next up is a Saturday home match against UMass Lowell. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Events Center.