• Press & Sun Bulletin: “BU (12-17, 7-7 America East) is currently in fifth place in the America East and can clinch the fifth seed in next week’s conference tournament with a victory over the Hawks.  With a loss, there is the possibility of BU falling all the way to the seventh seed. Conference seeding, however, matters little to  Macon right now.  ‘I just want us to get better each game,’ Macon said. ‘This has nothing to do with the conference tournament. We not going into the conference tournament until it starts. I don’t want to jump the gun.’  The positives that BU displayed in its decisive victory over UMBC — good ball movement, rebounding proficiency — were severely lacking during its four-game losing streak, which occurred exclusively on the road and included losses by 42 points at Boston University and by 20 points at Stony Brook.”
• WICZ (Video): “If Binghamton University’s Student Association has their way, Basketball Coach Kevin Broadus will no longer coach at BU.  The association’s president says after reading about Broadus’ coaching conduct in Judge Kaye’s report, students no longer want him working at the university.  Therefore, the S.A. is formally calling for his immediate resignation as head coach.”

• Press & Sun Bulletin: “This could be the day the public will get some answers about what happened inside Binghamton University’s athletics program.  Top officials in the state university system are scheduled to reveal the findings of a four-month investigation into troubles that got six men’s basketball players kicked off the team and their coach suspended, prompted claims that a female employee was sexually harassed, and cost the athletics director his job.  SUNY’s executive committee will meet this morning to discuss Judge Judith Kaye’s probe of the program, and likely will release the report later in the day, said SUNY spokesman David Henahan. He said SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and Trustees Chairman Carl Hayden are scheduled to answer questions in a 2 p.m. conference call with reporters.  The report is expected to contain recommendations for BU, though details weren’t available Wednesday night.”

• Press & Sun Bulletin: “It was a different story Saturday, when the Bearcats allowed a game-closing 11-0 run in a 61-49 loss at Maine. BU hopes to avoid a repeat when it visits University of New Hampshire in an America East Conference contest at 7 p.m. Thursday. The two teams met 12 days ago at the Events Center in a game won by BU, 76-73, in overtime. In that Jan. 30 game, Greer Wright scored 29 points and Dylan Talley converted a three-point play with 21 seconds left in overtime for the Bearcats (11-14, 6-4 America East). It was one of three games during BU’s four-game winning streak that the Bearcats won by six points or fewer. With the exception of its 80-63 victory at University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Jan. 27, all of BU’s other America East games have been decided by single digits. Wright hopes to continue his torrid play since the start of BU’s America East schedule. The junior transfer from City College of San Francisco is averaging 19.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists in America East play. Those represent increases from his season-long averages of 15.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.”

On the basketball front, Binghamton lost to Maine on Saturday to start a four game road trip.  The game was a lot closer at the end than the score reflects, but you still have to give Maine a lot of props.  There defense was nasty all game.  They found a way to shut down Greer Wright at least for a half.  They shot the ball better, out rebounded us, and got to the line more.  You usually don’t win games where that happens.  I wouldn’t want to play Maine in the tourney.

• Maine Campus: “The 12-point win would seem to indicate that McNally’s confidence produced an easy win for the Black Bears. What the final score does not show is the Binghamton Bearcats were within two points of the lead with possession of the ball 2:06 in the second half.  On Binghamton’s possession, they got the ball to their leading scorer, Greer Wright, who got fouled on a lay-in attempt but failed to convert on both of his free throws. Junior forward Troy Barnies ripped down the big rebound and got the ball into the hands of point guard Junior Bernal. Bernal quickly got the ball up the court and found Gerald McLemore (nine points) wide open for a three in the corner. The sharp-shooting sophomore had made just seven of his last 29 from beyond the arc, but he found his groove at the right time at the end of the game. ‘It was a big shot. I wasn’t making them all, but I kept shooting,’ McLemore said. ‘I mean, what am I going to do, sit outside and not shoot it? If I’m open, I have to shoot it ­— and luckily it went in and it was a big boost to our team.’”
• Press & Sun Bulletin: “Binghamton trailed by 10 with 4 1/2 minutes of the second half elapsed but drew within 50-49 when Greer Wright made a steal near midcourt and charged in for a layup. However, the Black Bears scored the final 11 points of the afternoon, including 6-for-8 from the free throw line. Mahamoud Jabbi had 12 points and nine rebounds for Binghamton, which shot 18-for-53 from the field and was outrebounded, 39-35. ‘They played tough, they pounded the ball inside and they rebounded,” interim BU coach Mark Macon said. ‘When you look at the rebounds and the fouls, it doesn’t look like a disparity. But from a coaching standpoint, a foul under the basket is different from a foul in the middle of the court.’  Binghamton (11-4) is 6-4 in conference play, one game behind third-place Maine. The Bearcats play their next three away from home. Next comes a 7 p.m. game Thursday at New Hampshire.”

What what happens next?  That tidbit of foresight is still in the hands of former judge Judith Kaye.  All the success in the world won’t mean anything until after Kaye’s report.  When will that be?  Nancy Zimpher ain’t telling anyone.

• Ithaca Journal: “SUNY’s top educator Monday vowed ‘full disclosure’ related to spending on the investigation of Binghamton University’s troubled athletics program.  But more than three months into the $520-an-hour probe, it remains anyone’s guess as to when the public will know the cost — or if they’ll wind up footing the bill.  ‘I’m not unpacking the gradual development of this case,’ Chancellor Nancy Zimpher said in a brief interview at SUNY Delhi, where she was attending a strategic planning event.  Zimpher said she’s ‘hopeful and optimistic’ the probe can be completed soon. But asked when that might be, Zimpher said the process will take a long as is needed.”
• Press & Sun Bulletin: “As disappointing as Sunday’s overtime loss to Maine was, at least the Binghamton University men’s basketball team won’t have much time to dwell on it.  The Bearcats return to the court tonight when they host Stony Brook at 7 in an America East Conference game at the Events Center.  It’s the third of four games in eight days for BU (6-11, 1-1 America East), which also hosts Boston University on Thursday.  ‘We have to play better Tuesday,’ BU interim coach Mark Macon said following Sunday’s 66-61 overtime loss to Maine. ‘I know they feel bad, and they should, because I feel bad.’”

This was a great little weekend for sports.  My other green-and-white team, the Jets, thumped the Bengals again.  Chargers-Jets is going to be a very interesting match-up since the Chargers don’t really stop the run too well and the Jets have some option on where to put Darrelle Revis.   Do you match him up against Vincent Jackson?  Do you match him up against Malcolm Floyd?  Do you match him up against Antonio Gates?

In their second AE game, the Bearcats lost at home in overtime to Maine 66-61.  This was a pretty awful game to watch.  Both teams, except Moussa Camara, shot a horrific percentage from the three-point line.  Maine shot 9% and Binghamton shot 13%.  Maine won this game by getting to the foul line 20 more times than Binghamton including some crucial free throws in overtime.

This was a bad loss, but I think it also shows that Binghamton is going to be able to compete this year.  Maine has been the surprise of the AE OOC, and taking them to overtime with only 6 scholarship players and without your starting point guard shows you the type of team Binghamton has become.

Recaps:

• AP: “Binghamton clung to a 57-55 lead halfway through OT, but after a defensive stop, Mitchell made a layup in traffic to tie the score. He gave Maine the lead moments later on a pair of free throws and then extended that lead to four with 50 seconds left.”
• Video from WBNG: “Visiting Maine (9-6, 1-1 AE) made just one field goal in overtime but converted 11-of-14 free throws to outlast cold-shooting Binghamton (6-11, 1-1 AE) 66-61 Sunday afternoon from the Events Center. It was the Black Bears’ first win in seven tries at the Events Center.”
• Press & Sun Bulletin: “With Maine employing a 2-3 zone for much of the game, BU (6-11, 1-1) hit just 20 of 61 shots from the field (33 percent), including an unsightly 6-for-35 (17 percent) from 3-point range.  ‘We settled for too many jump shots (Sunday) instead of attacking the basket,’ BU interim coach Mark Macon said. ‘We hit some shots in the first half, but (Maine) kept plugging away. We have to get the ball inside, then kick it out.  We shot 35 3-pointers. That’s ridiculous.’  BU was without two starters Sunday. Point guard Dylan Talley missed his third straight game with an upper thigh contusion and center Pina Guillaume sat with an ankle injury.”
• Video From WICZ: “Maine takes out BU 66-61 in OT, and shoots 20 more free throws during game, but Coach Macon says the refs are not to blame.  Macon: ‘The ref didn’t put the ball in the basket. The ref didn’t shoot the ball for the other team, and they didn’t shoot the ball for us. We missed shots. We were twenty for 61. That’s a lot of shot man.’”