Game Notes

Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball faces its oldest rival when the Bearcats (4-22, 3-8 America East) host league-leading Albany (16-7, 11-0 AE) at 7 p.m. Tuesday night at the Events Center. 

The Bearcats will try to snap a nine-game losing streak to the Great Danes, who are ranked No. 25 in the lastest College Insider Mid-Major Poll. Albany is the first team in 10 years to start America East conference play with an 11-0 mark. 

QUICK HITS
• It will be the 96th all-time meeting between the two schools connected by I-88. The all-time series began in 1948.        

• Binghamton has dropped its last two games after winning two in a row. The team's last three losses have come by a combined 11 points. The Bearcats sit in the No. 6 playoff position with five regular season games remaining.            

• Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez has scored in double-digits in 10 of his last 13 games. He is BU's leading scorer (10.9 ppg.) and rebounder (5.3 rpg.) among active players.

• Sophomore guard Marlon Beck II has hit double figures in seven of his last 10 games (12.4 ppg.), including a team--high 18 pts. at Maine.  

• Freshman forward Bobby Ahearn has scored in double figures in three of the last five games (9.4 ppg.) and is shooting a team-high 53% this season.  

• Binghamton has been hit by two key injuries to its frontcourt. Six-foot-9 sophomore Nick Madray went down with an ankle injury after scoring 20 points vs. St. Bonaventure on Dec. 20. He has missed the last 12 games. Six-foot-9 center and leading scorer Dusan Perovic (11.5 ppg.) suffered an ACL injury at practice on Jan. 5 and will be lost for the remainder of the season. Additionally, freshman wing Justin McFadden will miss tonight's game with an illness.

• Binghamton has statistically the youngest team in the entire country (StatSheet.com). It's 14 players have a combined 10 years of collegiate experience. There are only two upperclassmen on the roster (1 senior, 1 junior).

• Five of the team's top-six scorers in conference play are freshmen. Binghamton is one of just three teams in the entire nation whose top two scorers are freshmen (Central Florida, UMass Lowell).

LAST TIME OUT
On Saturday up in Bangor, host Maine made 6-of-6 free throws in the final 15 seconds to hold off Binghamton at the Cross Insurance Center. The Bearcats nearly rallied from 13 points down in the second half, twice pulling to within one. But the Black Bears won the foul game in the closing minute, hitting all six attempts, including the final two with 2.1 seconds left to create the three-point edge. A last ditch 50-foot heave by freshman forward Willie Rodriguez was over the backboard at the buzzer. Rodriguez netted a team-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He scored 14 of those points in the second half, when BU shot 52 percent and outscored Maine 40-30 to climb back into the game. His turnaround jumper brought BU to within one, 57-56, with 2:32 left. After a Maine miss, freshman guard Romello Walker drove the lane looking for the go-ahead bucket and drew contact but no call was made. The teams traded free throws and then the Black Bears hit a big three with 0:40 left to give them a 61-57 lead, setting up the closing foul-free throw pattern. Maine made 16-of-17 foul shots for the game. Sophomore guard Marlon Beck II tallied 18 points (14 in second half), six assists and two steals in 38 minutes. Walker added 11 points (10 in second) and three steals.

SCOUTING ALBANY
The first-place Great Danes returned two starters from a 19-win team that reached the NCAA second round last season. After going 5-7 in non-conference play, Albany has rattled off 11 consecutive wins against America East foes. They are second in the conference in scoring offense (65.3 ppg.) and have two of the league's top six scorers in Sam Rowley (13.9 ppg.) and Evan Singletary (13.2). Albany has kept up its momentum even without top player and all-conference guard Peter Hooley, who took a leave from the team for family reasons.   

ALL-TIME SERIES
The series, Binghamton's longest against any opponent, has swung back and forth since both schools began America East membership in 2001. The Bearcats won eight of the first nine matchups but thanks to nine straight wins, Albany now holds a 15-13 advantage. The programs first met back in the 1948-49 season. In the Division I era, BU is 8-6 in Vestal. The teams are deadlocked at 6-6 at the Events Center.  Back on Jan. 14 in Albany, the Great Danes built a 16-point halftime cushion and kept visiting BU at bay in a 73-58 win at SEFCU Arena. Down 34-18 at the break, BU hit 7-of-13 (54%) to start the second half but only briefly pulled to within single digits. The Bearcats outscored (40-39) and outrebounded (19-15) their hosts over the final 20 minutes. Sophomore guard Marlon Beck II scored a season-high 20 points and freshman forward Bobby Ahearn tied his season-high with 12 points and chipped in seven rebounds and two blocks.