On Sunday afternoon, the Niagara Purple Eagles came into Hamden and were able to defeat the Quinnipiac Bobcats by a score of 80-66.
The cold February weather seemed to sneak into the arena early as halfway through the first half, points were hard to come by as both teams were shooting 30% or less with the Bobcats leading 13-10 at the under-12 minute media timeout.
Quinnipiac held control for most of the half but Niagara was able to ride the wave and keep themselves in close distance the whole time.
The tide began to shift when JJ Riggins missed a free throw in the final seconds of the half and Niagara was able to get out in transition and make a buzzer-beating layup off the fingertips of Dre Bullock to tie the game at 37 heading into the break.
These were two of Bullock’s 17 points in the first half, Matt Balanc was the leading scorer for the Bobcats with 13.
When the Purple Eagles opened up the second half with a three, the 40-37 lead served as their first lead of the game, a lead that they never gave back.
After a basket from Balanc and a free throw from Paul Otieno to tie the game at 40, the Bobcats head coach, Tom Pecora, tried to switch the momentum up when he got hit with a technical foul two and a half minutes into the half after another foul on Quinnipiac.
The tactic seemed to backfire however as Niagara seemed to pick up steam after the technical as they went on a 10-2 run to open up a 50-42 lead.
“I was hoping my technical would get us a little fired up and we’d get a whistle or two, but it didn’t play out that way,” Pecora said.
The Bobcats were able to fight back after being down by as much as nine to make it 66-64 Niagara with three and a half minutes to go in the game.
However, after back-to-back converted and-1’s by the Purple Eagles to extend the lead to 72-64 was part of a 12-0 run that put this game away.
“We weren’t able to impose our will, with our size and physicality, and you know it was a parade to the free throw line,” Pecora continued.
The free throw advantage was certainly in the favor of the Purple Eagles as they had 27 attempts compared to just 11 by the Bobcats. They were able to take advantage of it as they had a remarkable 100% shooting from the line, making all 27.
Bullock did not stop scoring in this one as he ended the game with a game-high 26 points as well as going 6-8 from three.
Balanc led the scoring for the Bobcats with 22 points.
Quinnipiac has followed up their season-long winning streak, of 10, with now a season-long losing streak, of two.
The Bobcats will look to bounce back when they take on Fairfield next week in Hamden on Friday, Feb. 23, at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
