Faced with losing their third straight game, the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team squared off against the Monmouth Hawks Sunday at the People’s United Center. Ultimately, the Bobcats were no match for the Hawks, who handed Quinnipiac the loss by a final score of 76-63. 

Quinnipiac took a one-possession lead within the first few minutes of the game, but Monmouth quickly stole it back and never relinquished it, maintaining a steady advantage for the remainder of the contest.  

During the first half, Quinnipiac was able to hang with Monmouth for the most part, trailing by only a couple of points moving into the final minutes. However, the Hawks found their rhythm, going on a 12-2 run, and eventually finishing the half on top of the Bobcats 43-32. 

The Bobcats came out of the locker room hot, quickly cutting Monmouth’s lead to just five points after two quick three-pointers from forward Jacob Rigoni. Small momentum swings like these went on for the rest of the game. Monmouth would take a double-digit lead, only for Quinnipiac to threaten a comeback. Time and time again Monmouth would pick up the slack, and once again retake a sizeable advantage.  

The Hawks were able to ride their lead all the way to the end, taking Quinnipiac down in triumphant fashion.  

For the Bobcats, it was senior guard Tyrese Williams who handled the majority of the team’s scoring. He tallied 11 points in the first half alone, finishing the game with 14 off the bench. Graduate forward Kevin Marfo facilitated the ball well for the Bobcats tallying seven assists and seven points in 28 minutes. 

“He plays a big facilitating role for us,” head coach Baker Dunleavy said. “Seven assists is a great number for anybody on the floor, let alone a five-man.” 

Marfo’s seven assists were one more than the rest of the Quinnipiac roster combined. The next closest Bobcat, Rigoni, had only two. 

On the other hand, four Hawks tallied double-digit point totals. Forward Walker Miller gave Quinnipiac trouble all game long. Miller finished with 22 points and six boards, due in part to his 6 foot, 11 inch frame. Dunleavy commended Miller for his ability to pick apart the Quinnipiac defense, beating them in all facets of the offensive game. 

“Overall (Miller) is a really tough matchup,” Dunleavy said. “He hurt us in multiple ways, hitting a three and hurting us in our zone.”  

Aside from Miller, Monmouth found additional offensive help from a trio of graduate students. George Papas, Marcus McClary and Shavar Reynolds Jr. combined for 40 points, good for over half of Monmouth’s total.  

Dunleavy attributed much of Quinnipiac’s troubles to carelessness with the basketball, highlighting the team’s 17 turnovers as an area that needs improvement moving forward. 

“We turned the ball over a good amount today,” Dunleavy said. “I think we need to get a lot better in the half-court and taking care of the ball.” 

The Bobcats will look to snap their three-game losing streak in the next matchup, traveling to Bridgeport, Connecticut to take on Fairfield on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.