2015-16 Binghamton Media Guide

Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball begins its 2015-16 season with a tough test Friday night at Atlantic 10 member St. Bonaventure. The Bearcats and Bonnies will tip at 8 p.m. in Olean in front of what is expected to be a sellout crowd at the Reilly Center. The game is the second-half of a doubleheader that begins with a Bonnies women's game at 5:30 p.m. 

Last Friday, BU posted a 92-53 exhibition win over SUNY Cobleskill in its tuneup contest. Sophomore guard Romello Walker led four Bearcats in double figures with a game-high 20 points. Redshirt freshman John Schurman matched Walker with four three-pointers and chipped in 17 points. Senior point guard Marlon Beck II and freshman backcourt mate Everson Davis added 12 points apiece. The Bearcats shot 54 percent and turned 20 Cobleskill turnovers into 30 points.

The Bearcats return all five starters and 10 letterwinners for fourth-year head coach Tommy Dempsey. The squad is still young, however, with just one senior and 11 (of 15) underclassmen. Binghamton was picked to finish fifth in the America East in several preseason polls.

The Bonnies showed no mercy in their exhibition game - a 108-48 rout of Division II Mansfield. St. Bonaventure played only nine men and seven of them reached double figures, led by junior forward Denzel Gregg, who tallied a game-high 23 points. Sophomore point guard Jaylen Adams scored 19 with six assists and second-year guard Idris Taqqee notched a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. The Bonnies roared out to a 59-18 halftime bulge and shot 52 percent for the game. 

Senior shooting guard Marcus Posley, a returning all-conference selection, was fourth in the A-10 in scoring last season (16.7 ppg.).

St. Bonaventure returns three starters from an 18-win team that finished sixth in the A-10 and reached the conference quarterfinals.

The Bonnies lead the all-time series with Binghamton, 4-1. Last season, visiting St. Bonaventure used a 27-8 second-half run to pull away for a 69-51 win at the Events Center. The Bearcats trailed by just four at the break and were within two, 38-36, with 13:28 remaining before cold-shooting and a Bona 1-3-1 press took its toll. Binghamton's win in the series was a 64-59 victory at the Events Center during the 2007-08 season. The two previous games at the Reilly Center resulted in Bona wins by 17 (2007) and 26 points (2009).

Binghamton is 3-12 all-time against teams from the A-10. In addition to the win over the Bonnies, BU has also beaten George Washington (2007) and La Salle (2010). 

After Friday's game, BU will return home to host Army West Point at 2 p.m. on Sunday. In a special pre-game ceremony, the basketball court will be dedicated as "Dr. Bai Lee Court" in honor of local physician Bai Lee, whose recent gift of $1 million is the largest in Binghamton athletics history.