Last season, behind a 30-point, 14-rebound performance from former guard Jordan Reed, the Binghamton men’s basketball team pushed regular-season champion Vermont into overtime at the Events Center before dropping a close one, 92-82.
This season, behind a whole-team effort and a defense as unyielding as they come, Binghamton didn’t make it to overtime. Instead, the Bearcats won in regulation, 57-55. They halted a four-game skid with just two games left on the regular-season slate and finally posed a successful comeback.
It was a long time in coming.
“It’s not like this has come out of nowhere,” BU head coach Tommy Dempsey said. “We’ve had a lot of games where they’ve gone right down to the wire … I think more so the importance of the win was just being able to finish, because you can’t just keep coming close … and not win any games. Because then you start feeling like you can’t win.”
If Binghamton (5-24, 4-10 America East) has an archetype this season, it’s playing the comeback kid. The comeback kid that puts in an inspiring effort and puts on an electric display, but ultimately comes up short. Just look at BU’s games against Albany, Hartford and Stony Brook.
So when Binghamton pushed back from a 10-point second-half deficit, rallying behind a 17-7 run to tie the game at 48 with 3:37 to go, things were exciting, yet dubitable.
Sophomore guard Marlon Beck II capped off the surge with a quick 3-pointer to get the tie after it looked like the Catamounts (16-11, 11-3 AE) might sneak off for a 20-point win again, as they did at home on Jan. 19.
Six points from freshman forward Willie Rodriguez and two from Beck and freshman guard Romello Walker and it was a four-point game. Sophomore forward Magnus Richards’ two shots from the charity stripe then brought the score to within two, 45-43, but Vermont hit a 3 and tried to pull away.
Binghamton wouldn’t allow it. Freshman center Bobby Ahearn added two from the line before Beck hit his clutch 3 — one of many this season.
“I knew [my defender] kept sagging off me. I knew we were down three as well, and they’re really good with plugging up the gaps so you can’t really drive,” Beck said. “So once I saw him keep backing up, that was my shot from the top of the key.”
From there, Walker, freshman forward Justin McFadden and Beck combined for four from the free-throw line to instate a 54-50 lead with 46 seconds left on the clock. Binghamton clung to that advantage through the subsequent longest 37 seconds of anyone’s life, converting 3-of-8 from the line, forcing a turnover and gaining possession on a crucial dive for a loose ball that turned into a dogpile to come away with a 57-55 victory.
That only capped off an efficacious performance that saw Binghamton commit a season-low four turnovers while forcing 11 out of Vermont. The Bearcats crashed the glass, too, lagging behind the Catamounts by just two, 29-27. And they played physical, drawing 27 trips to the line out of Vermont, who only made that trek eight times in the game. BU scored 24 points in the paint to Vermont’s 26, but that doesn’t even count its 15 points from the line.
“I thought we had them out-stretched and we took advantage of some matchups that we liked and we got great shots – we only had four turnovers because we took care of the ball,” Dempsey said. “Once we had a matchup that we liked, we took advantage of them. And if we drew help, we did a good job of playing off two feet and making the right play.”
Binghamton had only trailed by four, 27-23, heading into halftime. Rodriguez and Walker combined for 16 of BU’s points in the half. In the early second period, BU tied it at 27 behind buckets from Ahearn and McFadden, but Vermont poured in three 3-pointers and pieced together a 10-point lead, 41-31, with 12:44 to go.
After that, though, it was all BU.
Rodriguez led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor and added three blocks. Ahearn followed up with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor — mostly the low post, where he flaunted his seemingly effortless reverse layup — and a team-high seven rebounds. Walker had 10 points and four rebounds and Beck posted nine points, three assists, four boards and two steals. Beck finished 4 for 8 from the line in the last moments of the game, which ended up being as crucial to the win as his game-tying trey.
Though McFadden didn’t stick out on the stat sheet on Wednesday night, his intangibles set him out on the court. He scored six points and pulled down one board, but Dempsey said he was key, and his return — as well as Ahearn’s improved health — were instrumental to BU’s win.
“[McFadden is] on the front of the press, he’s battling on the glass, he’s playing the best player on the other team,” Dempsey continued. “We need him out there. He’s just so crucial for us.”
Dempsey doesn’t want to talk about momentum, but his group’s confidence ought to be on the rise after snapping Vermont’s win streak at five, not to mention getting a win over the team currently second in the AE. With third-ranked Stony Brook (18-10, 9-4 AE) up next on their schedule, it’s good to know that the Bearcats can finish off their comebacks — if they need to come back.
Tip-off against the Seawolves is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Island Federal Credit Union Arena on Long Island. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.