@Binghamton 71, George Washington 59

@Bing 71, GW 59 - and just a little bit of dap is all I ask:

"This one's been penciled in as a loss, at least in my book, since the schedule was released, and my sensible side is telling me GW by 12 or so, but I just can't shake that feeling that this one could go Binghamton's way. (And that's not to say they will turn around all the problems they have.) Maybe it's just my instinct telling me that we cannot possibly be this bad, but I'm sensing an upset tomorrow night."

And all the elements for the upset came together tonight: Binghamton was desperate for a win, George Washington appeared to overlook the Bearcats, the guys were extra charged up to get coach Kevin Broadus a win against his old mentor -- and the Colonials shot 3-for-24 from downtown.

Standing in the Zoo tonight, we couldn't help but feel a bit of pride when GW's Rob Diggs missed a *second* dunk with about 2 1/2 minutes left. We ragged Diggs to no end when he missed the first dunk, and I can't help but think that, even if just a tiny bit, we got into his head. (Full disclosure: Diggs still led GW with 20 points and 16 rebounds.)

(And a quick note: If a guy's going 20-16-2 blocks-3 steals --- what the heck is he doing coming off the bench?)

But enough about the crowd - the Bearcats absolutely deserved to win the game tonight, out-hustling GW on rebound after rebound (despite being out-rebounded 38-36, it certainly didn't feel that way). Reggie Fuller's rebounding was stellar tonight, and it appeared that Laz could not be stopped in the first half.

Binghamton did a great job shutting down GW's transition game, with a number of interceptions on fast-break attempts. Richie Forbes, Mike Gordon and Fuller all did a terrific job quickly getting back into defensive position.

The Bearcats shot just 4-for-14 from downtown, but that was one more make than the Colonials had in 24 attempts. The difference tonight was pressure on most of the opponents' deep attempts -- their poor shooting performance was no fluke, no mistake, despite what coach Karl Hobbs might be saying right now in the postgame. The Bearcats' consistent pressure -- with the exception of a few missed assignments by Milos in the first half that ended up not costing us -- really killed GW tonight.

I was a bit surprised to see Chretien Lukusa, the true freshman, pick up a start tonight. Maybe I'm missing something but I feel like Dwayne Jackson, who played 24 minutes to Lukusa's 23, would be a better fit.

Bing also did a real good job getting to the line tonight -- 40 times. According to Randy Benjenk, who had a better vantage point than I did in the Zoo, coach Hobbs was not pleased with many of the calls in the first half, but I'll put it this way: sometimes, on a special night, everything seems to go your way, and with a win over the defending A-10 champions, that's what happened tonight.

I can't overstate how well Fuller played tonight. I can't honestly tell you I expect the whole season to turn around from this point forward, but I think Fuller could begin to really establish himself as a force on the defensive end if he continues that type of play.