The BU Zoo Blog

Regents grading went very well for me.  A good chunk of my students passed with a 65 and most of them passed with a 55.  However, its time to look on to the new semester.  I got new students, new classes, and new things to prepare.

The new semester has also been a transitional period for the Bearcats.  After their OT victory over UNH, Binghamton isn’t just looking for respect, they are looking to be a top team in the conference.  A big reason they have emerged from a potential contender is because of the play of Greer Wright.

• Press & Sun Bulletin: “Greer Wright scored 29 points as Binghamton University went overtime for a 76-73 men’s basketball victory over New Hampshire on Saturday night at the Events Center.A three-point play by Pina Guillaume with 2:01 to play in the extra session put BU on top to stay, 71-68.Wright scored the final points on a pair of free throws with 9.4 seconds to play. Chretien Lukusa added 10 points and eight rebounds for BU.The attendance figure announced was 4,811.”

Today is a great day.  This marks the end of the first semester at my school.  This fall I have been teaching four sections of a remedial class of kids who failed the Global History and Geography Regents Exam.  Interwove with the failures are a large section of support-services kids who really need help passing standardized tests that No Child Left Behind and the state have mandated.  I think I did a good job, but I guess the data from the Regents exams with be the judge of that.  Teaching for the review class is tough and tedious work.  I’m just happy that it soon will be over.

While my semester is coming to an end, the Bearcats forgot to end the game yesterday as they blew a late big lead to Hartford and lost 64-63 on a Joe Zeglinski game-winner spoiling the return of freshman Dylan Talley.  Probably karma for all of the Mike Gordon buzzer beaters.  At least Joey Z is on my fantasy team.

• Press & Sun Bulletin: “Everything seemed to be working in Binghamton’s favor when Chretien Lukusa found a streaking Greer Wright for a dunk, and a 10-point lead, with 4:54 remaining in the game.  Lukusa’s high-pitched scream, and his fingers pointed skyward, seemed to indicate so.  But Hartford, the loser of 10 games by more than 10 points this season, capitalized on BU’s complacency and fought back, using a 3-pointer from Joe Zeglinski with 15.5 seconds remaining to defeat the Bearcats 64-63 in an America East men’s basketball game at Chase Arena.  ‘The sad thing is that we kind of let up a bit at the end of the game,’ said Lukusa, who finished with six points and four assists for BU (7-13, 2-3 America East). ‘Coach [Mark Macon] always talks about us playing a full 40 minutes, but right there we played about 38.’”
• AP: “Joe Zeglinski scored 16 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer to lift Hartford to a 64-63 win over Binghamton on Thursday night. Trailing 61-51 with 4:52 left, the Hawks (5-15, 3-3 America East Conference) used a 10-point run, capped by a Zeglinski layup, to tie the game with 40 seconds to go.  After Greer Wright’s layup put Binghamton up 63-61 with 23 seconds remaining, Zeglinski hit his 3 with 17 seconds left. Chretien Lukusa missed a potential game-winning layup with 3 seconds on the clock and Charles White rebounded for Hartford, which has won three of its last four games.”
• Hartford Courant: “Actually, it looked as if the Bearcats might have started celebrating earlier. When Greer Wright dunked with 4:51 to go, Binghamton led, 61-51. Hawks coach Dan Leibovitz called time and exhorted his team to play “one stop at a time.”  Out of the huddle, freshman Charles White ignited Hartford. His crazy shot on a drive to the basket went in as he was fouled, and the free throw cut it to seven points. Then, with the 6-foot-1 White leading the way, Hartford made six stops in a row to close within two.  Binghamton no longer could penetrate at will and the Hawks (5-14, 3-3 America East) got hot. They completed a 10-0 run to tie it on an uncontested layin by Zeglinski (16 points) with 40 seconds left.  Binghamton (7-13, 2-3) ended its 4 1/2-minute drought with Wright’s jumper. But in transition, Zeglinski was left open.  Binghamton’s offseason was engulfed in turmoil. Six players were dismissed from the defending conference champions and coach Kevin Broadus was suspended for a recruiting violation.  Macon, the former Temple star who played six years in the NBA, is, like Leibovitz, a protege of coach John Chaney and he has settled things down, refocusing on the basics.   ‘If we both learned one thing from him, it’s to be a teacher first,’ Leibovitz said. ‘There’s been a lot negative said about what’s gone on there, but there were a lot of positive things going on for them tonight. Mark’s doing an excellent job.’”