Posts Tagged ‘Ben Dickinson’

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: Ugly play-in game was all that is good about the America East

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

On Thursday night, two teams boasting a combined record of five wins and 53 loses met in an empty, echo-filled arena in West Hartford. In the shadows on the outskirts of the State capital, the two lowest ranked teams in one of the lowest ranked conferences in the country faced off in front of the deserted chair backs and barren bleachers in the play-in game of the America East tournament.

The game featured air-balls and missed free-throws, blown dunks, blown leads and flagrant fouls.

The match-up between eight-seeded UMBC and ninth-seeded Binghamton was some of the ugliest basketball imaginable.

It was beautiful.

UMBC forward Jake Wasco battles Ben Dickinson and Jabrille Williams for a rebound (courtesy of America East Athletic Communications)

Thursday night’s game was all that remains good in the America East Conference – one of the last bastions of true amateurism in the increasingly dark and seedy world of college basketball. Two teams with seemingly nothing left to play for, refusing to let their seasons end. Powered by guts and heart, the Retrievers and Bearcats left everything they had on the floor, for just one more day toiling in basketball obscurity.

When the dust cleared, the Bearcats, who had crawled through a 1-28 record in the regular season, celebrated their 73 to 67 overtime win as if they had just won the league title.

Jake Wasco, a senior forward for UMBC who lost 94 games in his career, and tasted victory just 13 times during his final three-seasons, left the floor with tears in his eyes. He didn’t want it to end.

None of them did.

“It’s about winning one game and buying another,” remarked Binghamton head coach Mark Macon after the game. “To come in there where they could have put their heads down and walked away… it’s about the team and not myself.” (more…)

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Dick(inson) move: Freshman’s actions warrant, require lengthy suspension

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

On Sunday afternoon, the Binghamton Bearcats were soundly beaten on their home floor by the previously one-win Hartford Hawks. The loss dropped the Bearcats to 0-17, leaving Binghamton as one of only two Division-I teams that remain winless (the other is Towson). Yet the loss itself, and the Bearcats continual entrenchment as the worst basketball team in America East history, was a distant second to the heinous aspect of Sunday’s game.

With Hartford leading 58-44 and 5:22 left on the game clock, Hartford point guard Andres Torres made a bounce pass to Genesis Maciel and headed to screen Binghamton freshman forward Ben Dickinson, who was standing at the left side of the free-throw line. As Torres, who stands shorter than his listed 5’10″, slowed, clearly bluffing a screen on the 6’8” Dickinson, Dickinson turned and cold-cocked an unsuspecting Torres in the face with a forearm/elbow punch that lifted Torres completely off the ground and left him sprawled on the hardwood.

Following an immediate ejection, a seemingly defiant Dickinson ripped off his jersey before leaving the floor. (more…)

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Two days later: “Good Lord! That’s Ben Dickinson’s music!”

Monday, November 14th, 2011

One game is a small sample size. An otherwise mediocre player can blow up in a single game, but sustaining a high level of performance over an extended period of time is more indicative of actual quality. For that reason, we generally refrain from making extreme proclamations based on 40 minutes of basketball.

That being said, there are exceptions to every rule. Here is one such exception: Ben Dickinson is The Truth. (Yes, that’s already Paul Pierce’s nickname, but nothing about periodically collapsing on the court like you got shot, only to return to the game five minutes later, qualifies a player to be nicknamed “The Truth,” so we’re stripping Pierce of his nickname.)

Let’s start with the numbers. If you haven’t already heard, Ben Dickinson broke Binghamton’s freshman scoring record in his first game by scoring 27 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 11-of-14 shooting from the charity stripe; the freshman record was previously held by Dylan Talley. Eighteen of those 27 points came after halftime as the Bearcats tried to dig out of a hole that grew to 18 points shortly after the break.

Dickinson also added seven rebounds (including six offensive rebounds, which led all players), two assists, and three steals. He did all this while staying out of foul trouble – his third foul came with just 35 seconds remaining – which allowed him to play effective defense and stay on the court for 38 minutes.

The above stat line would be extremely impressive for any player, let alone a freshman in his first Division-I action. It also sells Dickinson short. (more…)

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