Binghamton 57 Vermont 55
Another trip to Binghamton ends in disappointment. Vermont struggled to execute down the stretch and Binghamton made the plays they needed to pull out the victory. Vermont went up by 10 in the second half and you could almost see the players take their foot off the gas. I believe that the thought of a number one seed crept into the players minds and they lost focus on finishing the game. I give all the credit to Binghamton as they never quit and executed a perfect game plan. They pressed the entire game and switched defenses throughout, which confused the young Vermont players and forced them into making more impulsive decisions. On offense, Binghamton took care of the ball and almost exclusively went one on one, exploiting whatever match-up problem they had created. This was the first Vermont game all year where Becker could not find an effective combination of players. If not for Jordan Reed's transfer and several key injuries, I believe Binghamton would have been very competitive this year. They are the most athletic team in the conference and Tommy Dempsey's style is very different than any other team in the America East. Binghamton is definitely putting the pieces together to be competitive in this league in the coming years. Hopefully this game serves to refocus Vermont and they will hold serve at home against UNH.
The game on Wednesday night now becomes the most important game of the regular season. With a win the Binghamton loss is forgotten and Vermont clinches the two seed. This is the seed I would prefer the Cats to have for several reasons. The first is a superstitious one. Vermont's playoff success has most often come as the two seed and the America East Championship in general has favored the underdogs. The second reason is I don't want too much too quickly for this group. They have far exceeded expectations and being the number one seed would place undue pressure on them to win it all or be left disappointed. The last reason is I would rather they were the underdogs in the championship game (if they make it that far). Seeing the last group fold under pressure makes me want to be rooting for an underdog, especially considering they will be expected to be very good next year and wont be able to play the underdog card again for a while. The UNH game is definitely a pressure situation and Senior night always adds another element to the game. This is the opportunity they have been working for all year and I feel like they will have learned form the Binghamton game and come our with renewed passion.
As a final note three years ago when Vermont won the America East Championship, they lost late in the season to a winless Binghamton squad by an eerily similar score of 57-53. Serendipity? I guess time will tell.
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