Team/individual accomplishments spring 2019

Men’s basketball stuns Stony Brook to reach America East semifinals

Seventh-seeded Binghamton men’s basketball (10-22) roared out of the gate, built a 24-point lead and held off second-seeded Stony Brook (24-8) 78-72 to advance to the America East semifinals for the first time in 10 years. The Bearcats, winners of four consecutive road games, now head to No. 1 Vermont for a Tuesday night matchup. It’s the first time Binghamton University has reached the America East semifinals since the 2009 team won the conference championship.

Men’s basketball standout Sessoms named America East Rookie of the Year

Binghamton men’s basketball freshman guard Sam Sessoms was selected as the America East Rookie of the Year. Sessoms, a seven-time Rookie of the Week choice, also received third team all-conference honors in a vote of the league’s nine head coaches.

He becomes the second Binghamton University player to receive the major award after a brilliant regular season that included 12 games of 20 or more points, including a record-tying 34 points against Hartford on Feb. 27 and a 32-point showing against UMass Lowell on Jan. 23.

Men’s swimming and diving finishes runnerup at America East Championship

Freshman Amanda McGraw was named the Women’s Most Outstanding Diver and the men’s team finished second for the second straight year, highlighting Binghamton’s performance in the final day of the America East Swimming & Diving Championships, which are being hosted by WPI. While the Bearcat men placed second out of four teams, the women were fifth out of seven teams.

McGraw won the women’s one-meter title on Saturday and was the runner up in the three-meter competition on Thursday. She is the first Binghamton women’s diver ever to get the conference’s top individual award.

This also marks the second straight year the Bearcats have gotten one of the major diving awards. Current sophomore David Walters, who was second in both events this week, was named the Men’s Most Outstanding Diver last year.

Men’s swimmers earn trip to national meet

On January 11, Binghamton head swimming & diving coach Brad Smith held what he thought was going to be a routine team meeting. The Bearcats had returned from their annual Florida training trip earlier in the week and had traveled to Marist the previous day for their first dual meet of 2019. With a break in the action, Smith met with the men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams met at the West Gym to map out the rest of their season.

The purpose of the meeting was to determine what events that each swimmer of diver would compete in at the America East Championships, which would be held Feb. 14-17. For most swimmers, the conference meet serves as the conclusion of the season and the start of a well-deserved break.

Unbeknownst to Smith, several men’s swimmers had a different idea. Freshman Ryan Board, sophomore Patrick Wilson as well juniors Thomas Mackey and Tyler Meyers noticed that their relay teams had already reached qualifying times for the National Invitational Championships (NIC)..

Women’s track finishes third at America East Championship

Juniors Jack Fitzgerald and Greg Matzelle as well as sophomore Brittany Korsah each won individual titles and freshman Casey Gribbenwas named the Men’s Most Outstanding Rookie, highlighting Binghamton’s performance at the second and final day of the America East Indoor Track Field Championships at the Boston Track & Tennis Center. The Bearcat women were third out of nine teams while the men were fifth in the team standings.

The third-place team finish for the Bearcat women is their best at the America East Indoor Championships since 2016. It also marks the sixth time in program history they have finished in the top three at the conference indoor meet.

“From an individual standpoint, it was an exceptional meet,” head coach Mike Thompson said. “We had several personal bests and school records. We just need to get a few more bodies to move up in the team standings.”

Women’s basketball pair named all-conference

Senior forward Rebecca Carmody and junior guard Kai Moon have each earned second-team all-conference honors from the America East. In addition, Carmody was named to the America East All-Defensive Team while freshman Annie Ramil was chosen to the conference’s All-Rookie Team.

Carmody currently ranks eighth in the America East in scoring (13.0 ppg.), first in rebounding (8.3 rpg.), fourth in assists (3.2 apg.) and No. 10 with 1.6 steals per game. She finished the regular season with a team-best eight double-double and reached the 20-point mark in scoring twice.

This marks the first time in her career that Carmody has earned all-conference honors. She was named to the America East All-Rookie Team in 2016. It also marks her first appearance on the All-Defensive Team.

Moon, who was named to the third team last year, ranked second on the team with 12.8 points per game. She was also tops on the team with an .821 free throw percentage and 1.8 three-point field goals per game. Moon led the Bearcats with four games with at least 20 points.

Like Carmody, Moon was also named to the America East All-Rookie Team in her freshman year (2017).

Men’s lacrosse welcomes back alum to coaching staff

Binghamton men’s lacrosse head coach Kevin McKeown has officially announced the addition of Tanner Cosens to the coaching staff. Cosens was a volunteer undergraduate assistant last season as well as a three year starter for the Bearcats from 2014-2017.

“I am thrilled to welcome back Tanner to our program,” McKeown said. “As a former coach, captain and first team All-America East player, Tanner’s perspective and ability to lead will add enormous value to our program. In addition, he will be able to dedicate himself to the development of our goalies on a daily basis.”

Cosens finished his senior season with an 8.21 GA average, 141 saves (.520 SV%) and a 10-4 record in goal. For his career, Cosens totaled 363 saves for a .483 save percentage. He recorded 17 wins in the net over four years. His standout skills in the net helped lead a Binghamton team to the America East post-season tournament in 2017.

Cosens was a captain for the Bearcats in 2016 and 2017, and finished his career earning first team all-America East honors as a goalie his senior season.

Four wrestlers advance to NCAA Championship

Highlighted by four Bearcats punching their tickets to the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Pittsburgh, Pa., the Binghamton wrestling team concluded action at the EIWA Championships. The Bearcats landed six total on the podium, with three third place finishes from Anthony Sparacio, Vincent DePrez and Lou DePrez, a fourth place finish from Zack Trampe and a fifth place finish from Joe Doyle. Four NCAA qualifiers is the most the program has seen since 2013, and the most Binghamton has sent as a program since its inception into the EIWA in 2015.



The pin from Doyle in his fifth place match boasted the Bearcats to 78 team points, surpassing American to clinch their program-high sixth place finish.

“Our team wrestled really well this weekend,” head coach Kyle Borshoff said. “If our team now wrestled the team we were in November, we would have shut them out. The improvements we’ve made have really pushed this team over the edge and I’m really excited for the four guys we have going to NCAA’s. That’s what these guys are here to do, it’s a big deal for them and I’m just glad I get to be a part of helping them reach those preliminary goals.”