By Jordan Katz, QBSN Staff Writer

Coach Tom Moore has always preached defense during his tenure at Quinnipiac. Tonight, the Bobcats defense was relentless, holding Colgate to a paltry 37 percent shooting from the field and forced 15 turnovers in their 67-56 victory at Lender Court.

“Our goal is to be plus ten on the boards and be under 39 percent and we really harp on those numbers defensively,” Moore said after the win.

The Bobcats opened the game on an 18 to five run lead in large part by their points in the paint and defensive intensity. Quinnipiac forced Colgate in to long jump shots early and often and did an excellent job of boxing out in the early going. Ike Azotam (Boston, Mass.) got off to a fast start scoring and set the tone for the Bobcats scoring for the night.

However, Colgate would not go away. An 11-3 run in the middle of the first half helped cut the Bobcats lead to five at the half. The team’s then traded baskets early in the second half until a Garvey Young (Washington D.C.) steal and slam-dunk stretched the Bobcats’ lead to 40-31, and they never looked back.

The Bobcats went on a 10-2 run to stretch their lead into double digits, and behind a team effort from the free-throw line down the stretch were able to win in convincing fashion.

“Coach has been emphasizing free throws all season, and I think the whole team will continue to do better,” Young said. Young was 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. Quinnipiac as a team was only 66 percent from the line, but the Bobcats were 13-for-16 in the final four minutes to help secure the victory.

Game Notes: Azotam and Jamee Jackson (Newark, N.J.) each had a double-double, and the Bobcats had four scorers in double digits. The Bobcats outrebounded the Raiders 46-34 and had a season high 18 rebounds as a team. Murphy Burnatowski and Mitch Rolls each led the way for Colgate with 12 points and Luke Roh added ten. The Bobcats next game is at home on Saturday against the Vermont Catamounts.