Maybe the Events Center crowd was just a little too rowdy. Or maybe the referee’s whistles were just a little too quiet.

A false whistle — followed by an uncontested takedown — may have cost Binghamton the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestling Championship on Saturday.

197-pound sophomore Cody Reed was forced to settle for fourth place in his weight class after he was defeated by senior Joe Budi of Old Dominion University, 7-5 in overtime, under controversial circumstances. Reed was up 5-3 with 11 seconds to go, and in pole position to take third spot, which would earn the Bearcats four team points and put them level at the top with Hofstra University. But Budi took advantage of a false whistle to take down Reed, who was caught off guard, to force overtime.

“[The referee] said he told [Reed] to keep wrestling but you can’t hear anything in the gym with the crowd and all,” said head coach Pat Popolizio, who had a word with the officials during and after Reed’s match about the decision. “That summed up our day, really.”

And just like that, it was a case of “so close, yet so far away” for the Binghamton University wrestling team, who finished second to Hofstra by just two points overall.

Binghamton racked up 78.5 points in front of a lively Events Center crowd, but fell just short to Hofstra’s 80.5 points. Hofstra, whom the Bearcats toppled 24-12 on the road during the regular season, successfully defended its championship crown, marking its 10th CAA Championship title in the last 11 years.

“I think the [tournament] was a success,” Popolizio said. “[Junior] Donnie Vinson, [senior] Justin Lister and [freshman] Nick Gwiazdowski wrestled extremely well. [Juniors] Nate [Schiedel] and Patrick [Hunter] also. We will compete in the national tournament, and it can still make our season. Our goal is to be a top-15 team at the end of the season.”

Behind the top two, Old Dominion (68.5 points), Boston University (34), Drexel University (33.5), George Mason University (30.5) and Rider University (28) rounded out the standings.

Going into the final round of matches, the Bearcats had four wrestlers setting sights for titles: top seeds Vinson and Lister at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively, and 184-pound Schiedel and heavyweight Gwiazdowski, who were each seeded No. 2.

Vinson, ranked No. 4 in the nation, clinched the 149-pound title by knocking off Hofstra’s Justin Accordino by a major decision, 12-3, rounding off an undefeated individual performance in the tournament. With a pin, a major decision and a technical fall en route to the title, he was honored as the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

“I really dominated in the quarters and the semis,” Vinson said. “[In the final] I knew I had to get my takedown and he was going to try and stall it out. After I got that, I was pretty comfortable. I had a pretty faultless tournament; no one has taken me down.”

In his farewell season, Lister added another memorable victory to his illustrious career, pinning Old Dominion sophomore John Nicholson in the championship match.

“It is bittersweet,” Lister said. “I don’t want it to end, but life goes on and you’ve got to make the most of it. It was my last match here and one of the most memorable because of the way it ended. I had all my family and friends here, so it was just awesome.”

Gwiazdowski followed in the footsteps of Vinson and Lister by earning a final victory of his own against top-seed Kyle Frey from Drexel, 3-1.

“It’s a good win,” Gwiazdowski said. “The kid was tough, and I just wanted to win. It feels good. I want to be a four-time conference champ and four-time national champ. So it was good to come in on my first year and have it be at home.”

Schiedel, however, was defeated by top-seed Ben Clymer, 6-0, and came out second-best in his quest for the title.

Other than Reed, two other Bearcats were also involved in the consolation half of the brackets: 133-pound Hunter and 174-pound freshman Caleb Wallace. Hunter pinned Fred Santaite from Boston University to clinch third spot, while Wallace repeated the feat with a pin against Hofstra freshman Jermaine John.

Lister, Vinson, Schiedel and Gwiazdowski all qualified for the NCAA Championships, while Reed and senior 164-pound Matt Kaylor will hope for NCAA at-large sections next week. Kaylor finished 2-2 after falling in a tiebreaker to eventual champion, Hofstra senior P.J. Gillespie.

“The season is not over yet,” Popolizio said. “We’ve got to focus on the national tournaments now, and we will be OK as a team. This was a small bump in the road. Our top-level guys know how to shake this off.”

The NCAA Championship is scheduled for March 15-17 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.