Winless through its first two games of the season, the Binghamton University men’s basketball team will look to get on track when it heads south for a pair of games against Fordham University and Saint Peter’s College this weekend.
The games mark the middle part of a four-game stretch of road matches that the Bearcats (0-2) are set to play before returning home on Dec. 3 to take on Army.
Through the Bearcats’ first two games, sophomore guard Robert Mansell led the team in scoring, averaging 25 points per contest. Freshman forward Ben Dickinson, the reigning America East Rookie of the Week, is tied for first on the team in rebounding with sophomore forward Alex Ogundadegbe, each averaging 7.5 boards per game. Dickinson registered a game-high 27 points in his collegiate debut against Colgate University on Saturday night.
Coming off a 76-61 loss to Cornell University on Monday, Binghamton is scheduled to open its weekend against Fordham tonight in what will be, for both teams, a battle to break into the win column.
“We still need to improve daily on everything that we’re doing,” BU head coach Mark Macon said. “We haven’t perfected anything that we’re doing. It’s just a process of learning what you’re doing and correcting the mistakes that you make, not just in games but in practice as well, and hoping that you won’t make those same mistakes in games, but it happens … You just have to continue to work at everything.”
The Bearcats will face a Fordham squad that was picked to finish last in the tough 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference that is home to a slew of college basketball powerhouses like Xavier University, Temple University and Saint Joseph’s University.
Last season, Fordham finished the year with just one conference win and an overall record of 7-21.
This year, seven freshmen and four sophomores make up a young Fordham roster that boasts just three seniors.
Highlighting this year’s returners for the Rams is 2009-10 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Chris Gaston, who was named to this season’s Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team for the second year in a row.
As a sophomore last season, the 6-foot-7-inch forward led Fordham in scoring and rebounding for the second straight season, averaging 15.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Gaston’s rebounding ranked first in the Atlantic 10 and fourth among all NCAA Division I players last season, while his 17 double-doubles led the conference and were the 15th most in the nation.
Macon stressed how important solid defense will be in the Bearcats’ quest for their first win.
“The place where I’m focusing most on is our defense,” he said. “Because if we don’t stop anybody, then it’s gonna be really tough for us to win games because we don’t score as many points, although we’ve been scoring quite a few … Defense has been my main focus — the offense will come.”
Referencing the team’s recent struggles against Cornell, Macon spoke specifically about the importance of being able to slow down an opponent’s run.
“It’s being able to stop the other team from scoring,” he said. “We’re leading in one game and then we don’t score for five minutes and they go on a run, which is a counter in all games. Every team is gonna have a run, one run is gonna counter the next … I think [it’s] important when a team gets a run … that you get a stop; that you stop their run and you stop their run by stopping them on defense and then scoring on offense.”
On Sunday, the Bearcats will face a Saint Peter’s team that also stands winless through its first two games. After opening their season with a 72-65 loss to University at Buffalo last Friday, the Peacocks dropped their home opener to Robert Morris University on Tuesday by a score of 69-52. Saint Peter’s is set to take on Fairleigh Dickinson University tonight before hosting BU this Sunday.
Saint Peter’s earned a bid to the NCAA tournament last year after finishing first in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship, but in its first game fell to Purdue University, 65-43.
This season, Saint Peter’s was picked to finish fifth in the conference by the MAAC preseason poll after losing five seniors to graduation last year.
One of the biggest returns for the Peacocks is junior forward Darius Conley, who was named to the All-MAAC Third Team this preseason. He ranked third on the team in rebounding and sixth in scoring last year.
Conley did not play in either of the team’s first two games, however, due to a three-game suspension that is set to be lifted before Binghamton heads to Saint Peter’s this Sunday.
The Bearcats are set to tip off against Fordham at 7 p.m. tonight at the Rose Hill Gymnasium in the Bronx. On Sunday, Binghamton is scheduled to take on Saint Peter’s at 7 p.m. at the Yanitelli Center.