The Quinnipiac men’s basketball team opened up their 2014-15 season on a high note on Friday night. The team was able to defeat their cross-town rival the Yale Bulldogs by a final score of 88-85 in double overtime. This was the Bobcats first game since the Bulldogs eliminated them from the CIT postseason tournament last season.

Senior guard and team captain Zaid Hearst led the Bobcats with a career high 34 points. Hearst is the team’s first captain since Tom Moore took over the reigns as head coach seven years ago. Moore recognizes that Hearst is a special talent and a great asset to this team both on and off the court.

“I’ve named one captain in my seven years. I can’t say any more than that,” Moore said. “I hold him up on a pedestal and that’s why I named him, just him captain because I think he is just such a great role model for the younger kids to follow.”

The Bobcats came out slow early on in the first half, falling behind by as many as 11 points. The Bulldogs were led by Javier Duren who led all scorers in the first half with 19 points.

With just over eight minutes left in the first half, and the Bobcats trailing 31-20 Moore called a timeout. After the timeout Quinnipiac played better basketball and stuck to their game plan. By the end of the half the Bobcats closed the gap to two trailing just 40-38.

The second half was a lot of back and forth scoring, with neither team able to open up the score. At the end of regulation Justin Sears hit a layup to tie the game 65-65 with just under two minutes to play. Two possessions later Duren hit two free throws to put the Bulldogs up 67-65. On the ensuing Bobcat possession senior Ousmane Drame collected an offensive rebound and put it home to tie the game back at 67. With 10 seconds remaining Drame blocked a shot attempt by Sears sending the game to overtime.

The Bobcats came out strong in the first overtime going on a 7-1 run, but the lead was not to last as Sears tallied five straight points for the Bulldogs. With the Bobcats up by three with 12.1 seconds left, Jack Montague hit an off balance three pointer to tie the game, sending it to a second overtime.

In the second overtime, much like the first the Bobcats opened up a five point lead with 40 seconds to play. Leading 85-80 the Bobcats were able to hit clutch free throws and playing tough defense to clinch the victory over the Bulldogs.

The Bobcats were led by Hearst, but he was not the only bright spot for the team as senior Justin Harris was able to provide a spark for the team scoring 12 points off the bench in 20 minutes for Quinnipiac.

“It felt great. I’ve been ready and I’ve been prepared,” Harris said. “I’ve been playing against some of the best players to come out of Quinnipiac, Ike Azotam and Ousmane Drame. Going against that kind of competition on a daily basis when you finally get the opportunity, it feels great.”

The work Harris put in did not go unnoticed by Moore either. The senior forward hit several big shots towards the end of this game, gaining trust in the eyes of his coach.

“Justin Harris was immense. It is very difficult to do what he did tonight,” Moore said. “He earned a ton of trust from the head coach going in to Tuesday.”

Quinnipiac will return to action on Tuesday when they play host to La Salle at the T.D. Bank Sports Center.