Home, Sweet Home: Bearcats Back In Vestal to Host Army (and maybe even win!!!)

Tonight marks a homecoming of sorts for the Bearcats as they've been the visiting team in four straight games since losing their season opener at home on November 12th. All four of those road games resulted in losses for the young Bearcats, the last coming at the hands of the current #13 team in the country, the Missouri Tigers. Binghamton lost by an average of 20.5 points during their games away from the Events Center, but they welcome in an Army team who has just one win, a four point victory over Bryant, in six games against D1 opponents, though they've also beaten D3 Marywood in a game that shouldn't count.

Last season, Army handed the Bearcats a 14-point loss in West Point, a game where all the Binghamton starters have either graduated (Jabbi, Camara and Lukusa), been removed from the team (Sutton), or are unlikely to play this time around (Johnston). At the forefront of Binghamton's new-look team is Ben Dickinson. The freshman forward, averaging 15 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, could be in for another big game against an Army team who does not start anyone taller than 6'6". Army's lack of height amongst players receiving significant playing time is something Binghamton must exploit. The Bearcats have rebounded surprisingly well all season and it's the only statistical advantage they hold over the Black Knights.

More on the game, including projected lineups, after the jump.

Army is led by junior Ella Ellis, who is scoring 15.6 points per game. Other key players include Josh Herbeck, Julian Simmons and Mo Williams, all of whom average between 8-10 points per contest. Freshman point guard Maxwell Lenox is having a nice start to his collegiate career as well, contributing across the board with 6.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals. Army's projected lineup:

F - Ella Ellis, Jr.
F - Jordan Springer, Jr.
G - Josh Herbeck, So.
G - Mo Williams, Fr.
G - Maxwell Lenox, Fr.

As mentioned above, Binghamton is led by freshman Ben Dickinson. Fellow freshman Chris Longoria has stepped up his play recently, scoring 12 points in each of the last two games. Rob Mansell had a big second half against Missouri after going quiet following two 20+ point outings to start the season. Projected starters for the hosting Bearcats:

F - Alex Ogundadegbe, So.
F - Ben Dickinson, Fr.
G - Jabrille Williams, Fr.
G - Robert Mansell, So.
G - Jimmy Gray, Jr.

Plain and simple, this will be Binghamton's most favorable match-up until Hartford comes to town on January 15th, and you never want to go into conference play having not won a single game. The 0-5 start is the worst since...well, 2009 really, when that team went 0-5 against it's first five D1 opponents, losing by an average score of 21.2 points (they beat non-D1 Bloomsburg to open the year and Ark.-Monticello in their sixth game). However, technically, those non-D1 games do count towards your record. Even so, we've only got to go back to 2005 to find another Bearcat team to start 0-5. When did that '05 team finally get their first win? Coincidentally enough: December 3rd, a Saturday, in their sixth game. This year's Bearcats look to do the same, exactly six years to the day.