VESTAL, N.Y. - After playing three of its first four games on the road, Binghamton men's basketball returns home when the Bearcats (1-3) host Misericordia (2-0) at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Events Center. It's the first of back-to-back home games for Binghamton, which will also host Longwood (Va.) on Tuesday night.

The Bearcats are coming off a 78-63 loss to Atlantic 10 member Fordham on Tuesday in the Bronx. That game capped a two-game, four-day trip that began at Miami. 


About Misericordia
•    Division III team located 62 miles south in Dallas, Pa. near Scranton
•    Cougars compete in the Middle Atlantic Conference, which crowned Eastern University champions last season
•    Picked to finish fifth (of eight) in their half of the conference
•    Went 13-13 a year ago and finished fourth in the MAC Freedom
•    Led by senior preseason All-American guard Kevin Lazdowsky 
•    Lazdowsky averaged 19.6 points per game and was MAC Division Player of the Year
•    Cougars opened season with 74-60 win over Keystone on Nov. 8 and a 72-71 at Alfred on Wednesday
•    In that game, Lazdowsky scored a career-high 33 points and Arvel Chandler made six free throws in the final 3:07 to seal it
•    Team roster yields players from six different states
•    Ninth-year head coach Will Chandler '03 was a three-time All-American for the Cougars, twice led the nation in scoring and graduated as the second-leading scorer in NCAA D-III history with 2,898 points

All-time series vs. Misericordia
•    Binghamton leads the series 7-0
•    The teams played the first six times as Division III opponents between 1980-1992 and then most recently in 2018
•    In the last meeting on Nov. 12, 2018, the Bearcats rolled to a 107-64 win at the Events Center. In that game, Binghamton put six players in double figures and shot 58 percent. Freshman guard Sam Sessoms led all scorers with 18 points (7-of-12 FG). The Bearcats used a 19-8 run midway through the first half to take control, stretching a one-point lead to 12, 36-24, with 7:27 remaining. Sessoms had 15 of his points in the first half. After a solid shooting half to start, Misericordia only managed eight fields over the game's final 20 minutes.    

Walsh ties rebound record with 19 boards
Sophomore forward Gavin Walsh has gone back-to-back with double-doubles against top-tier opponents on the road. Last Sunday against ACC member Miami, he tallied a game- and career-high 21 points with 10 rebounds. Two days later, Walsh tied the school record for rebounds in a game with 19 (10 in first half), equaling the mark set by Thomas Bruce against UMass Lowell on Jan. 21, 2018. Walsh also made it another double-double with 10 points. His rebound total is the second-highest in the NCAA this season (Maryland 6-foot-10 freshman Derik Queen had 20 vs. Manhattan on Nov. 4).   

Bearcats with strong second halves
On the road trip to Miami and Fordham, Binghamton showed its grit with near-even second halves against higher-tier opponents. At Miami, the Bearcats were only outscored 42-39 and at Fordham two days later, BU was outscored 40-35. Even against Penn State, Binghamton was much better in the second half with 54% shooting and 43 points. 

Early America East statistics leaders 
Four games into the season, several Bearcats are near the top of the statistical rankings in the America East. Sophomore forward Gavin Walsh is second in rebounds (9.8/game) and his 19-rebound performance at Fordham is the second-highest in the nation. Sophomore guard Jayden Lemond is third in the AE in assists (4.5), graduate forward Ben Callahan-Gold is tied for sixth in 3-pointers (2.5) and sophomore guard Evan Ashe is sixth in blocks (1.5). 

Feast or famine early in 2024-25
Binghamton has played four games this season and each has resulted in a 15+ point margin. Last Monday, BU began its season with a 108-66 loss at Penn State in a game they fell behind by 31 points at half. The Bearcats turned the page with an 82-63 home win over Division III SUNY Oneonta on Thursday in a game that they led by as many as 41 points. On Saturday in Miami, the team fell to the ACC member Hurricanes 88-64 after trailing by 21 at half. Two days later at Fordham, BU made a run at the Rams in the second half before losing by 15.   

Hectic pace to start of season
The Bearcats finished up a four-games-in-nine-days stretch to open the season, with three of those games being on the road. The most recent two-game road trip began at 4 a.m. last Saturday with a multi-car caravan up I-81 to Syracuse and a flight to Miami for Sunday's game against Univ. Miami. A postgame flight from Miami to LaGuardia followed with the Bearcats getting to their hotel after 11 p.m. Sunday. A trip into Manhattan and practice at the NBAPA facility highlighted Monday. The team returned to campus after 2 a.m. by bus after Tuesday's game at Fordham.