ALBANY, N.Y. – Fifth-seeded Binghamton men's basketball (15-17) nearly overcame a 14-point second-half deficit but a final Bearcats flurry came up short at fourth-seeded UAlbany (17-15) 69-66 in an America East quarterfinal game Saturday night at Broadview Center.
Down 64-50 with 8+ minutes left, the Bearcats went on a 16-4 run to pull within two, 68-66, with 1:52 left. But with Binghamton looking for a tying bucket in the final 15 seconds, UAlbany stole the ball in the post and made one free throw for the final margin. A last-gasp Bearcats 3-point attempt was off the front iron with one second left.
"Albany made a few more plays than us down the stretch," head coach
Levell Sanders said. "It was a hard-fought battle. We dug ourselves a hole and fought our butts off to get back in the game. It's disappointing but I'm proud of my guys … proud of their growth as basketball players and people."
Senior forward
Nehemiah Benson had a perfect shooting night in his final collegiate game, hitting 7-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the line for a team-high 19 points. Graduate guard
Tymu Chenery added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists in his final game.
Binghamton outshot UAlbany from the field and only committed six turnovers, but were outrebounded 42-31. UAlbany used 16 offensive boards to put up 12 more shots – a margin that ultimately decided the game.
Sophomore guard
Evan Ashe had four points and two steals during the final run and graduate forward
Ben Callahan-Gold and senior guard
Wes Peterson, Jr. hit key 3-pointers. The Bearcats shot 52% in the second half but could never reclaim the lead they held midway through the opening period.
In the first half, UAlbany used a 22-8 run to build a double-digit lead before Binghamton brought it back to nine, 39-30, at break. The teams were trading 3s and the lead (8x) early in the game and Binghamton led 19-17 with 11:32 left. But the Great Danes kept firing above 50% and the Bearcats found themselves down 37-27 nine minutes later. UAlbany wound up with seven 3s while Binghamton hit just 4-of-13. Two Bearcat starters (Walsh and Chenery) were saddled with two fouls with Walsh held to just 11+ minutes after getting whistled twice in the first 6:30.
The Bearcats finish their season with 15 wins, equally last season's win total.
