Normally, when a team makes 17 baskets over the course of 40 minutes, they don’t come out with the win. However, that was not the case for the St. Peter’s Peacocks (11-1 overall 7, 5-12 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) Friday, as they spoiled Senior Night festivities for the Quinnipiac Bobcats (10-19 overall, 7-10 MAAC), 52-43.
There are some nights when the shots aren’t falling the way they usually do, and then there are nights when it seems like the ball was made specifically to not go into the basket. This was the latter, for both teams actually, but more specifically for the Bobcats, who went a stunningly bad 15-for-54 from the field; that’s shooting at a 27.8 percent clip.
“Tough one for us… but you don’t always execute the way you draw it up,” Quinnipiac head coach Baker Dunleavy said.
It started at the top for Quinnipiac, as star guard Cameron Young was held in check all game, shooting 5-for-18. He finished with 16 points, but that’s a deceptive stat, as half of them came in the final 70 seconds, with the game well in hand. Meanwhile, Chaise Daniels, Rich Kelly, and Isaiah Washington all were limited to one basket apiece, combining for seven points overall. Jacob Rigoni had a great first half, scoring 11 of the team’s 19 points, but was nowhere to be found in the second half, as he went scoreless over the final 20 minutes.
For St. Peter’s, the stat line wasn’t much prettier, but it was enough on this night. Freshman guard Elijah Gonzales led his squad with 13 points, including going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. It was quality over quantity for Gonzales, as three of his four made field goals came with under five seconds left on the shot clock. Quinn Taylor and Samuel Idowu joined the attack as well, each contributing 11 points.
As nice as it is to talk about the offense, all one has to do to see how this game was played is look at the final score: defense ruled for the full 40 minutes. Just last game, the Bobcats made 32 field goals. Tonight, there were 32 made field goals for both teams combined. Quinnipiac scored their fewest points of the season in this one, and Dunleavy knows it wasn’t only because of a fluky shooting performance.
“Just a really well-coached, sound team defensively… it’s not just us missing wide open shots,” Dunleavy said.
Although the onus will be placed on Quinnipiac’s offense tonight, and rightfully so, it’s worth noting that this was one of the better defensive games the Bobcats have played this season. Quinnipiac forced 15 turnovers and scored 13 points off of them. Also, the leading scorer for St. Peter’s, Nick Griffin, scored just three points on 1-for-7 shooting. Lastly, but most importantly, Quinnipiac held St. Peter’s to a 17-for-45 mark from the floor or 37.8 percent. That is really good defense, and although the Peacocks missed their fair share of open looks as well, it was mostly due to a tenacious gameplan defensively.
On a lighter, non-game related topic, it was Senior Night for Quinnipiac this evening. Greg Tarca, Alain Chigha, Cameron Young, and Chaise Daniels were all honored in a pre-game ceremony and were all placed into the starting lineup. Tarca, a fan favorite, played under one minute total in the game, but he made every second count. In the opening possession, he drew a charge before being taken out to an ovation. Then, after being put into the game by Dunleavy with under 30 seconds left, Tarca picked up the ball after a Chigha steal and layed it up and in. The crowd exploded, and Tarca was able to end his Quinnipiac career on a high note.
Despite the feel-good story at the end, this matchup proved that Quinnipiac still has plenty of work to do if they want to be real MAAC contenders. Up next for them is the regular season finale at Manhattan Sunday at 6 p.m., while St. Peter’s wraps up their regular season on Sunday as well, hosting Siena at 2 p.m.
