VESTAL, N.Y. - Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez made two big buckets in the final 1:10 and Binghamton men's basketball withstood a barrage of three-pointers to post a 75-74 win over visiting Oswego in the team's final exhibition game Friday night at the Events Center.
The Lakers, BU's former Division III foe in the State University of New York Athletic Conference, drilled 15-of-26 from beyond the arc (58%), including two in the game's final eight seconds to keep the outcome in doubt until the final horn.
"What a heck of a game Oswego played," head coach Tommy Dempsey said. "They were well-prepared, hungry and obviously shot lights out tonight. We were fortunate to win."
Binghamton led 69-68 with 1:28 to play when Oswego missed a layup in traffic. On the other end Rodriguez hit a jumper with 1:10 left. After a Lakers missed three, BU worked the shot clock down and Rodriguez muscled into the lane and converted a layup with 14 seconds left to make it 73-68. But Oswego answered with a three with eight seconds left, necessitating a pair of made free throws from sophomore guard Marlon Beck II to seal it. The Lakers drilled their 15th and final three with one second left, forcing BU to successfully inbounds the ball to finally secure the win.
The Bearcats made 16-of-19 free throws in the second half and spread the minutes around between nine players.
Oswego received a game-high 20 points from Kyle Covley, who hit 4-of-7 three-pointers.
"They were a good team," Dempsey added. "They made tough, shots ... deep, contested shots. We need to play better defense. We're struggling to adjust to our up-tempo and press. We're still trying to find the combinations and need time to become a good pressing team. I think our press opened up a lot of 3s for them. But this game was a much better played than our first game last week."
Rodriguez wound up with a team-high 14 points in 31 minutes. Junior wing Jordan Reed hit 6-of-8 shots for 13 points. In a span of 27 seconds midway through the second half, Reed reminded the 2,252 spectators why he's one of the most dynamic players in the America East. Reed began the sequence with a block on the defensive end and then soared to slam home a putback jam on the other end. He added a three-point play on the next possession and later added another block.
Freshman guard Romello Walker grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and added seven points and two steals. Sophomores Magnus Richards, Nick Madray and Yosef Yacob all tallied eight points.
The Lakers hit their first three three-pointers and first four shots overall to jump out to an 11-4 lead less than five minutes into the contest. Oswego continued to shoot above the .500 mark throughout the first half but BU responded with a 15-2 run midway through the half to go up 19-13. Yacob had eight of those points.
Binghamton opens its 2014-15 season on Nov. 14 at Notre Dame.
