For much of the first half against Albany on Thursday, the Binghamton men’s basketball team held its own with an impressive Great Danes squad.

Trailing 25-20 with 44 seconds left in the period, the Bearcats (12-15, 3-9 America East) were just a stop away from going into the locker room with the game within two possessions. At the buzzer, Albany’s sophomore forward Devonte Campbell tipped in a rebound to extend Albany’s lead to seven.

In the second half, it only got worse for BU, as Albany (16-11, 7-4 AE) cruised to a comfortable 66-54 victory and handed Binghamton its fourth consecutive loss. Ultimately, according to BU head coach Tommy Dempsey, BU’s lack of offensive production was its downfall.

“[I give] credit to [Albany’s] defense,” Dempsey said. “We lost our rhythm offensively … your defense can only hold up for so long.”

Both teams struggled to get clean looks through their opening offensive sets and produced little in transition. After deploying its reserves, Binghamton began playing with more intensity, running hard to get quick shots while contesting every look Albany got. With just over six minutes left in the half, the Great Danes edged their way to a 20-15 advantage.

But things sputtered quickly for the Bearcats, with Albany ripping off 12 straight points to end the half, capped off by Campbell’s last-second layup. If it were not for the strong play of their reserves, the Bearcats could have found themselves in a much larger hole, as the bench outscored BU’s starters, 16-4, in the first 20 minutes. Dempsey credited the low-scoring half to extensive scouting done on this conference matchup.

“When you get to this point in the season, both teams know each other so well,” Dempsey said. “You can take away each other’s sets, and it comes down to individual guys going and making plays.”

Albany started the second half on a hot streak, quickly extending its run to close the first half to a flooring 23-4 stretch over just 10 minutes of play.

During this run, the Bearcats lacked comfortable motion offensively. Albany’s size advantage in the backcourt particularly hurt Binghamton, as BU’s guards often struggled to set good off-ball screens. The Great Danes maintained a double-digit lead for most of the remainder, cruising to a 12-point win. Dempsey emphasized BU’s need to execute better offensively in order to find a good rhythm.

“We need to work hard at cutting harder, moving faster, moving the ball better,” he said. “We weren’t able to get that done tonight as our guards were smaller.”

Sophomore guard Timmy Rose led the way for Binghamton with 14 points, but no other Bearcat reached double-digit scoring. Albany’s scoring tandem, sophomore guards Joe Cremo and David Nichols, combined for 40 points for the Great Danes.

The Bearcats will look to snap their losing streak against New Hampshire on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. from the Events Center in Vestal, New York.