BINGHAMTON
Record: 12-19 (3-13 America East)
Last Game: L, 72-71, vs. Maine 2/25
Last 10: 2-8
This Season: BU 71-67 there; SBU 76-55 here
Listen/Watch:TV: TBA
Stony Brook radio:
http://www.whli.com/listen-live.aspxNotables:6-6/200 jr F Willie Rodriguez 11.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, .503 FG%, .396 3-pt FG%
6-6/225 jr F Bobby Ahearn 9.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .541 FG%, .807 FT%, .345 3-pt FG%
6-1/175 so G Timmy Rose 7.3 ppg, 3.6 apg, .481 3-pt FG%
6-9/225 so F Thomas Bruce 6.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 bpg
5-11/175 sr G Marlon Beck 6.5 ppg, 1.1 spg
Coming off two straight losses, two straight games where we barely
**** 50, with our lead man in a bit of a slide, it's hard to be brimming with confidence going into the quarterfinals. For the tournament, I think we're close to being on the same page – one win's adequate, two wins a major triumph, and three wins and an NCAA berth just beyond our wildest dreams.
No matter what happens though, it's been a very successful season in my opinion. It can end three days from now and 17 wins coming off our recent stretch, losing the three seniors and Walker, is just a tremendous effort by the coaching staff and the guys. Completely unexpected.
BUT ... we should win Wednesday. Bingo is reeling and we just beat them handily at our gym and should have won at their place too. Our last meeting was of course Jameel Warney Night, so emotions were high and the place packed on a Saturday night. You hope we can replicate that kind of effort. We held them to 33 percent shooting, dominated the glass, hit our threes, spread the scoring around, etc.
Their main guy, Rodriguez, hit the skids in a big way before seemingly finding himself against Maine. Before dropping in 26 in BU's loss to the Black Bears, Rodriguez had a five game stretch where averaged just FOUR points a game – 3, 7, 3, 2 and 5. Oddly enough, Woodhouse is averaging four a game in his last three for us.
I like our supporting cast here though. Nyama and Yeboah are solid second and third scoring options at this level, and maybe we see Sturdy or Sekunda awaken from their stupor. I also think we control the defensive glass. We may have peaked early this year, but I think we have enough oomph to get us another home game next week.
If you're wondering about the postseason, it's been a few years since the America East was represented in the NIT. Vermont's made the CBI with a record similar to ours the last two seasons, and we made it in 2014 and 2015. I don't know if it depends on Wednesday's game or not, but I think a one-and-done is a tougher sell than a 2 seed that gets ousted in the semis.