By no means was it pretty, but when the final buzzer sounded, the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team outlasted the Navy Midshipmen by a mere three points behind a near-perfect performance from the free-throw line.
“We lived at the foul line,” head coach Tom Pecora said. “(It was something) we had to do because we couldn’t put the ball in the basket.”
The two teams combined for 16 points in the first 10 minutes of play, with Quinnipiac scraping together just 10 points on an abysmal 2-15 shooting stretch to start. Navy did not fair much better themselves, shooting just 3-13 from the field in addition to five costly turnovers in the first five minutes.
To give his players the benefit of the doubt, Pecora attributed some of his team’s lethargic play to a stomach bug that had infected the Bobcats’ lockerroom only a few days prior.
“I was pretty sick, which winded me a little bit today,” sophomore forward Amarri Tice revealed postgame. “Being in great shape really helps us play a full 40 minutes.”
To combat their poor performance on the offensive end, Quinnipiac worked diligently to play at their own pace, drawing fouls and hitting free throws at an exceptional rate — something that became a key contributor in helping negate the team’s early struggles.
Fifth-year guard Matt Balanc led the Bobcats in scoring with 18 points, dropping in 13 free throws on 13 attempts. Seven of Tice’s 12 total points came from the charity stripe, from where he shot eight total attempts. As a whole, Quinnipiac went 31-36 from the foul line, good for an 86.1% team rating.
Coming into tonight, the Bobcats ranked 12th in the NCAA Division 1 ranking in free-throw shooting with a 78.41% team-wide clip – and their performance tonight will only boost their name in the standings nationwide.
Both the Bobcats and the Midshipmen were able to turn things around in the second half, hitting the court with an intensified flare in a game that was winnable for both sides.
Junior guard Kam Summers hit home the first five points for Navy in a 7-2 run that brought them back within two points of Quinnipiac’s lead.
This trend defined the second half of play until the very end – Quinnipiac would go on a small run, only to relinquish the lead back to the Midshipmen with costly turnovers and cold shooting.
It wasn’t until there were a mere four minutes left in the game when Navy would pull ahead. Sophomore forward Donovan Draper worked inside for a layup to bump Navy in front of Quinnipiac 58-57 – just their second lead in the entire game – the first of which came on the game’s first basket when they jumped ahead 2-0 following the opening tipoff.
But the Bobcats would not be outdone. Graduate guard Savion Lewis streaked down the floor, working the ball around until it wound up back in his hands. Attempting his first three-point shot of the entire season, he swished home the triple to put the Bobcats up front.
From then on, it was all Quinnipiac, who played out the free-throw game and outlasted Navy for a 71-68 win.
Other notable performers for the Bobcats included senior forward Paul Otenio, who supplied 13 points and seven rebounds in the win. Otieno continued his strong play following his selection as MAAC Player of the Week last week.
In addition, freshman forward Rihards Vavers got a rare start for the Bobcats, but it was his contributions off the bench that helped propel Quinnipiac toward the win. He totaled 10 points in addition to ripping off a single-handed, eight-point run in the second half, a crucial fixture in the Bobcat’s late-game rebuild.
“That little spurt that he put us on was key,” Pecora said.
With the win, the Bobcats now improve to 7-2 overall, remaining undefeated at home with a sparkly 5-0 record.
“We bleed on that court and we sweat on that court,” Tice said. “We don’t want anyone coming into our home, because this is our home and we’re going to protect it with everything.”
Quinnipiac will turn their attention to its in-state rivals, the Yale Bulldogs, for its next game. For the first time in nearly a decade, the two teams will tip off against each other, both hungry to take down the other.
The Bobcats will look to defend their perfect record at home against Yale – where the game is slated to take place Monday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.
