America East Basketball: A look at the Binghamton Bearcats

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For the past three seasons, the Binghamton Bearcats have seen their win total go up. They would end last season winning seven of their last 11 games. They are also one of three conference teams to have three straight years of at least seven league wins. Now, head coach Leveil Sanders’ job is to keep the program on the upward trend. As practice continues toward the 2024-25 season, the coach welcomes five newcomers and nine returning lettermen in hopes of getting the Bearcats to the top of the mountain. Let’s take a look at the new faces that the Bearcats hope will help them reach their goal.

From the transfer portal comes 6-1 graduate senior guard Jackson Benigni who played at Stonehill College for the past three seasons. Last year, he appeared in 23 games with 18 of them being starts. He averaged 11.3 points, shooting 40% from the field in 27 minutes of playing time. He was a 32% shooter from 3-point land, and from the free-throw line shot 72%. He pulled down 2.7 rebounds a game and led the team in steals with 1.4 a game.

Another transfer is 6-6 senior guard Wes Peterson Jr. who was with the University of Delaware Blue Hens last year. He played three seasons with them and was a part of the 2012-22 team that made the NCAA Tournament. A season ago, he played in 24 games, all off the bench, and shot 48% from the field.

From the Division ll level comes 6-8 forward Ben Callahan-Gold. He played for Trinity College in Ct. He was a second-team selection in the NESCAC where he ranked fourth in scoring at 16.7 points a game. He was also fourth in 3-pointers per game at 2.4. He was sixth in three-point field goal percentage at 37%, and seventh in free-throw percentage at 80.9%. He played in 18 games, with 17 of them being starts. In 25.9 minutes he averaged 6.2 boards to go along with his points. He was in double-figures in 17 of 18 games, scoring 20 or more five times. He recorded three double-doubles. He began his college career at Tulane in 2021.

Dominic Capriotti is a 6-3 redshirt sophomore guard who a year ago was with Houston Christian University. Appeared in 26 games with 16 starts. From 3-point range, he was a 39% shooter. Overall, Capriotti averaged 7.5 points a game. In conference play, his average went up to 9.4 a game. He scored in double-figures in 9 of his last 14 games.

Jayden Lemond is a 6-4 sophomore guard who comes to Binghamton from William & Mary where he played in 22 games, all off the bench. In 8.8 minutes of game action, Lemond averaged 1.5 points, one board, and an assist per game. He did shoot 45.5% from the floor. With the Bearcats, Lemond is looking for playing time.

The Bearcats’ non-league schedule has them on the road at Penn State and the University of Miami. They will spend Thanksgiving weekend playing in the Lafayette Tournament vs Niagara University, LIU Brooklyn, and Lafayette College.