Men’s Basketball: Mahoney’s explosion not enough as Terriers lose in OT
By: Ethan Fuller
BINGHAMPTON, NY — Max Mahoney could not be stopped on Saturday. The senior captain scored a career-high 38 points while grabbing 13 rebounds and thoroughly controlled the paint for Boston University men’s basketball.
But the effort was fruitless. Binghamton University (5-5), led by electric point guard Sam Sessoms, fought past the Terriers (3-7) in overtime, winning the matchup 84-79. The loss is the fifth in a row for BU, and after opening their extended road trip with an upset against South Carolina, the team has not pulled together a victory since.
Mahoney nearly ended the drought with his performance. The forward shot an impressive 65 percent from the floor, slicing up the Bearcats with disciplined footwork. When Binghamton bigs Pierre Sarr and Yarden Willis fouled out late in the fourth quarter, Mahoney feasted inside on the smaller defenders.
Mahoney’s scoring also vaulted him up the school’s all-time leaders, and he currently sits 19th on the list with 1,165 career points.
Sessoms, meanwhile, trailblazed on his own. The sophomore point guard set a Binghamton single-game record with a whopping 40 points in the contest, including critical buckets in clutch time.
The 2018-19 America East rookie of the year, Sessoms blew by Terrier defenders to get to the rim and also canned some deep contested triples. His ability as a microwave scorer overcame the generally tough coverage from Jonas Harper. Sessoms drilled some jaw-dropping shots while Harper still got a hand in his face.
Three-point shooting became night and day for the two teams. BU completely lost its perimeter stroke after halftime, going 0-16 from downtown through the second half and overtime and finishing with a paltry 13.8 percent clip. The Bearcats, meanwhile, made twelves threes and shot a strong 42.9 percent from beyond the arc.
The ice-cold shooting ultimately doomed four of the five starting Terriers. Alex Vilarino, Harper, Javante McCoy and Walter Whyte combined to make 10 of their 40 shots and 3 of their 22 attempts from deep. When the starters took the floor, Mahoney became the only threatening scorer by the end of the contest.
The Terriers did dominate the offensive glass, which nearly negated the lack of long bombs. BU grabbed 23 offensive boards to Binghamton’s 10 and the two-man combination of Mahoney and forward Suk Mathon wreaked havoc inside.
Mathon put up a spectacular game in his own right. The junior managed a career-high 15 points and 12 rebounds off the bench and played major minutes down the stretch as BU looked to capitalize on their late size advantage. Mathon also dished out three assists; the Bearcats gave him plenty of room at the high post and Mathon often made them pay.
Binghamton received important contributions from freshman guard Brenton Mills, who converted three of six long range attempts as part of his ten points. Senior guard Richard Caldwell also provided a crucial spark late in the game, scoring 11 points and leading the team with 13 rebounds.
After spending nearly a month on the road, BU receives a full week off before hosting Dartmouth College next Saturday at 1:00 pm. The Terriers will look to snap their five-game skid against a 5-4 Dartmouth team currently riding a three-game losing streak of their own.
Featured image courtesy of Patrick Donnelly.