Quinnipiac men’s basketball (1-0 overall, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) began the Dunleavy era this afternoon with a win over the Dartmouth Big Green (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League), 78-77. Today’s game also featured Salute to Service Day, where former and current veterans were honored prior to and throughout this contest.
The Bobcats’ seventh head coach registered a 129-17 overall record during his four-year tenure with the Wildcats. In addition, Dunleavy was a part of four straight BIG EAST regular titles with Villanova from 2013 to 2017.
Dartmouth concluded last season missing the playoffs, while the Bobcats were eliminated immediately in the first round by the Niagara Purple Eagles. The last meeting between these two squads occurred seven seasons ago, where the Bobcats defeated Dartmouth 69-52. Nevertheless, this afternoon’s game was a nail-biter.
The first half began with back-and-forth action by both teams, even though the Bobcats did start the early stages going 0-for-5 on field goal attempts. Bobcat graduate guard Isaiah Washington got the first points of the game with a three-pointer just three minutes into the game. After Quinnipiac took a seven-point lead, Dartmouth converted on three-straight field goals to make it 14-11 at the time. Then following the media timeout, Dartmouth senior guard Miles Wright hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 14 halfway through the opening half.
Quinnipiac freshman forward Jacob Rigoni had a response to the Big Green surge when he came off the bench. Rigoni not only tallied his first field goal of the game, but then countered that with a three-pointer in the very next possession to give the Bobcats a six-point lead. Junior forward Abdulai Bundu continued the Bobcats’ momentum as he got the first game-changing block towards the latter end of the first half. The Maryland native followed that up by rejecting another Big Green player’s dunk attempt on the next Dartmouth possession. The Bobcats finished the first 20 minutes strong as they held a 42-33 halftime lead.
“We hung in there and battled all game,” Dunleavy said. “I’m very happy we were able to start the season off strong and see what our guys are made of.”
The second frame was extremely reminiscent of what occurred in the first: constant back-and- forth action. At one point, the Bobcats held a 16-point lead, for what would be their largest lead of the game. Some significant contributions for that lead arrived from freshman guard Rich Kelly, who capitalized on a few three-point plays. Kelly finished the afternoon with 3-for-10 on field goals and 5-for-6 on free throws, totaling 11 points along with five rebounds.
“I realize how good everyone out there is,” Kelly said. “So, I know that we have to practice and play hard every day moving forward.”
Dartmouth would still never go away though, especially when Wright took advantage of a Bobcat turnover to make it a two-point game in the middle of the second half. Sophomore guard Brendan Berry would also make some ankle-breaking moves against Bobcat defenders, putting the final touches on those moves by converting three-pointers.
However, Quinnipiac senior forward Chase Daniels would have his fingerprints all over the basketball as it became crunch time. The Meriden, Connecticut local made several blocks, and on one particular play, transitioned his defense into offense as he stuffed a Big Green. He hustled at the other end of the court to draw a foul and convert both free throws. Daniels had a phenomenal season-opener, going 7-for-14 on field goals and 7-for-8 on free throws with seven rebounds, two blocks and 21 points.
Daniels was suffering some fatigue-related injuries towards the final minutes of regulation, but he battled through it because of this team’s chemistry.
“I know my teammates are always there for me,” Daniels said. “So, I didn’t want to give up on them.”
As the final minutes ticked down, Daniels executed a statement dunk to put the Bobcats ahead 77-75. To no surprise, Big Green’s freshman forward Chris Knight would register a huge field goal to knot it at 77. Finally, the game-winning point would come from the hands of Kelly, who drew a foul and converted one of his free throws with 1.9 seconds left. The last-second Dartmouth prayer would be appropriately stuffed by Daniels to preserve Quinnipiac’s season-opening victory.
“Chase is out guy,” Dunleavy said. “But we have good players that can excel even without him out there.”
Men’s basketball will host Brown on Monday at 7 p.m., when they look to continue the early-season success in the Dunleavy era.
