Electrified by the Senior Night crowd at the Events Center, Moussa Camara and the Binghamton University men’s basketball team had a shot to beat Boston University at the buzzer. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, much like their season itself, the attempt was just off the mark.
The Bearcats (7-21, 4-11 America East) dropped their final home game of the season to the Terriers by a 53-51 score in front of 3,776 fans on Senior Night. Binghamton has now lost 10 of its last 11 games, and more than half (11) of its 21 total losses have come by 11 or fewer points.
“It’s remarkable how many games we’ve let slide by five [or fewer] points this year,” said senior forward Greer Wright. “We just gotta figure out how to win in the last minute.”
The Bearcats started their five seniors on the roster for the final home game: Camara, Wright, Mahamoud Jabbi, Chretien Lukusa and Preston Pena. Binghamton built a 10-2 lead while the Terriers missed their first nine shots from the field. But the Terriers gradually fought back to take a 30-23 lead at halftime.
Boston had to survive without star senior John Holland, who injured his ankle late in the first half and did not return. Holland is the Terriers’ leading scorer with averages of 19.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game; he had scored 10 points and grabbed six boards in just 16 minutes of play before exiting.
“You never want to see anyone go down,” said Boston head coach Patrick Chambers. “But at halftime, I was like, ‘Let’s see what we’re made of. Let’s see if we can actually win a game without John Holland.'”
The Terriers answered their coach’s call as the Bearcats fell behind by 12 points with 12:22 left in the second half, but it was Binghamton’s turn to chip away at the lead. Behind tough defense and strong shot selection, Binghamton cut down the Boston lead to four.
Then Wright took over, single-handedly keeping the Bearcats rolling offensively by putting in the final eight points of the game for his team. Though he had to be benched for a significant part of the second half because he had four fouls, he led all scorers with 18 points and also chipped in four boards and four assists.
But in the end, it wasn’t about the shots Wright did hit; it was about the one that he didn’t.
Wright drove into the lane on Binghamton’s final possession, down 53-51, and took a short jumper for the tie that fell just short.
“I was just trying to make a play getting to the basket,” Wright said. “Missed it by two inches.”
But the Bearcats tipped the rebound out to the top of the key and right to their sharpshooter, Camara. He had a wide open look from the top of the key, and a bucket would have given the Bearcats a one-point win, but it careened off of the back of the rim to seal the defeat.
“I thought Moussa’s shot was in,” Chambers said. “Especially on Senior Night, those shots typically go down.”
“It was right on line,” Jabbi said of Camara’s attempt. “At first I thought the layup was going in, but luckily it just got tipped to the best 3-point shooter.”
“Every time Moussa shoots it, we feel that it’s got a good chance of going in,” Wright said. “When I was underneath the rim looking it through the net, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a bucket.’ [He] missed it by two inches, too.”
Jabbi led the Bearcats in rebounding with 11 while blocking four shots. Camara had 13 points, but shot just 5-of-15 from the field. The Bearcats shot just 7-of-12 from the free-throw line and a measly 6-of-24 from 3-point range.
The Terriers were led by freshman guard D.J. Irving, who scored 14 points. Boston outrebounded the Bearcats 37-30 and shot just above 40 percent from the field as a team.
“I gotta praise the other team,” said Binghamton head coach Mark Macon. “When their best player went out of the game, they worked hard, played harder and they stayed together.”
Binghamton’s seeding has not yet been determined for the America East championship, but it is guaranteed to be either the No. 8 or No. 9 seed. This means the Bearcats are set to compete in the tournament play-in game against University of Maryland, Baltimore County. That game is scheduled to be held Thursday, March 3 at 8:15 p.m.
“We’re looking at the big picture,” Jabbi said. “The final weekend is the one that matters. We have to go into the conference tournament and be the best team that weekend … Knowing that we’ve been close to everyone, I think there is a sense of respect those teams have for us … That’s what keeps us motivated.”
The final game of the regular season for the Bearcats is scheduled for Sunday at Stony Brook University, a school that Binghamton defeated on Jan. 10 by a 57-50 score. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.