For Immediate Release: February 24, 2011
Contact: Kevin Solan (sports1@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6800

BU men's basketball falls in final seconds to visiting Boston 53-51
Wright leads all scorers with game-high 18 points

Box score

VESTAL, N.Y. -- Visiting Boston (17-13, 11-4 AE) fended off a late charge by Binghamton (7-21, 4-11 AE) to preserve a 53-51 victory in an America East men's basketball contest at the Events Center Thursday night. The Terriers completed the season sweep of the Bearcats, who have lost two consecutive games by less than three points.

Down two on the final possession, senior forward Greer Wright drove to the hoop and missed a short, leaning jumper in the lane, but classmate Moussa Camara hauled in the offensive rebound and launched a contested three-pointer that caromed off the back iron as time expired.

Over the final nine minutes, both squads traded baskets as Boston's lead never grew larger than six. Wright single-handedly carried the Bearcats in the game's closing five minutes, netting the team's last eight points in a determined effort. Wright drained a jumper in the lane with 36 seconds left to pull Binghamton within 52-51. With only a one-second differential between the shot clock and game clock, the Bearcats were forced to foul. Darryl Partin converted only one of two free throws to open the door for Binghamton on its final possession.

Trailing 44-32 with 12:22 left in the second half, Binghamton mounted a 7-0 run in a span of 2:27 to close within striking distance. Camara sparked the quick spurt with a three-pointer off an assist from senior Mahamoud Jabbi. The Bearcats generated its next four points off a pair of defensive blocks by Jabbi and freshman guard Robert Mansell in consecutive possessions. Jabbi rejected a layup by Mike Terry which led to another Camara jumper 19 seconds later. On the ensuing possession, Mansell turned away a field-goal attempt by D.J. Irving, which led to a Jabbi jumper.

Wright led all scorers with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. Camara poured in 13 points, including three field goals from beyond the arc. Jabbi, who scored 22 points against Boston in the first meeting back on Jan. 26, only tallied six points, but notched an impressive defensive outing with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.

D.J. Irving registered a team-high 14 points for the Terriers, while Dom Morris finished with six points and 10 rebounds.

The Bearcats raced out to an early 10-2 lead in front of 3,776 fans in attendance on senior night. Wright scored five of the team's first 10 points, including a fast-break dunk and a deep three-pointer from the top of the key. However, the Terriers held the host squad to only one field-goal over a seven-minute stretch to claw within 21-20. From there, Boston went on a 10-2 run to forge a 30-23 advantage at the break.

Boston posted a sizeable rebounding advantage (24-10) as a result of 13 missed three-pointers by the Bearcats in the first half. The Terriers managed a 46% field-goal clip in the first half, compared to Binghamton's 32% on 9-of-28 shooting.

Boston's John Holland exited the game late in the first half with an ankle injury. He led the Terriers in scoring (10 points) up to that point.

"I'm very happy about our progress but I'm torn because I want to win every game," head coach Mark Macon said. "I have to praise the other team because they battled without their best player. We went through a roller coaster of emotions, we were high at times and then evened off. Then we got hot in the end but didn't finish the game out. You can only ask for a chance to win at the end and we had that....I thought that shot by Moussa was going in."

Binghamton travels to Stony Brook to wrap up the regular season on the road Sunday at 2 p.m. With Stony Brook's 79-73 overtime triumph at Hartford last night, Binghamton is locked into an eighth-seed and a match-up with UMBC in next week's America East Tournament. The play-in game of the America East Tournament will take place next Thursday at 8:15 p.m.

NOTES
Wright and D.J. Irving (14 points) were named the America East Players of the Game, sponsored by Security Mutual Life.