Quinnipiac Bobcats head coach Baker Dunleavy knew that if his Bobcats (9-13 overall, 6-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) were going to find any kind of success Saturday against the Fairfield Stags (7-13 overall, 2-7 MAAC), it would be through limiting Tyler Nelson, the conference’s leading scorer.
Nelson shot 22 percent.
Quinnipiac went after the league’s top scorer early and often, using double teams and pressing him high to make him force shots and pass the ball away. The player who regularly averages 21.5 points on the season was held to just 13 in Long Island on Saturday as the Bobcats defeated the Stags at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 75-70.
“I think he had some open looks that he would normally make because he’s a great player, but between Isaiah Washington, Aaron Robinson, and then Cam [Young] towards the end, I think our guys really chased him around the court,” Dunleavy said on his strategy to limit Nelson. “Our goal was to make him uncomfortable.”
Isaiah Washington was given the tough assignment to guard Nelson for most of the first half, and he responded in a big way on both sides of the ball.
“I knew a big part of what they do was through [Nelson]. I tried to sacrifice myself for the team on defense and then the shots just kind of came,” Washington said.
The shooting woes for the Stags didn’t stop there, however. Fairfield guard Ferron Flavors, Jr. was held to 4-of-17 shooting and the entire team shot just 34 percent from the field, including 20 percent from deep.
Dunleavy was proud of his team for the defensive performance they provided, and emphasized that their performance on Saturday wasn’t just catching lightning in a bottle— the defense has been a focal point for him, and their performance against the Stags was only a sign of things to come.
“Our defense is something we’ve been stressing over the last two weeks,” Dunleavy said. “I really believe in the progress.”
The Bobcats held the lead for most of the way, largely due to five players reaching double-digit points. Cam Young (15), Andrew Robinson (14), Abdulai Bundu (12), Isaiah Washington (11), and Jacob Rigoni (10) all made big contributions on the offensive end, leading to an offensive barrage that forced the Stags to keep an eye on every single Bobcat on the floor.
“Cam’s our leading scorer, but in no way are we married to him taking a certain amount of shots,” Dunleavy said on his team’s ability to share the scoring. “If they’re going to take him away, we have to be ready to move the ball and take shots.”
Things got interesting in the final two minutes of the second half, as Fairfield trimmed the Bobcats’ nine-point lead to just two with 52 seconds left thanks to a full-court press that made it almost impossible for the Bobcats to inbound the ball. When the Stags had an open look to tie the game, however, it was none other than Tyler Nelson to put a shot off the front iron that could have brought the game even at 73. Cam Young then found himself at the line for two free throws, buried them both, and sealed the Bobcats’ sixth conference victory in ten games.
The Bobcats are in a surprising position after being heavily favored to finish the season at the bottom of the MAAC. Instead, they currently find themselves in fifth place in the conference with a 6-4 record. Dunleavy acknowledges the unexpected success his team has enjoyed so far, but he doesn’t want the record to be the only defining factor in determining team success.
“I don’t want the record the be the ‘end all, be all’ for this group. The most difficult part of our schedule is probably ahead of us…but I’m proud of our record. All we’ve talked about all year is progress, and I think our progress is reflected in our record,” Dunleavy said in his postgame press conference.
The Bobcats will prepare themselves to face one of their toughest tasks yet when they travel to New Rochelle, New York play guests to the perennial conference powerhouse Iona Gaels (12-8 overall, 6-2 MAAC) on Friday, February 2 at 7 p.m.
