NEW HAVEN – A prolific Connecticut sports rivalry was reignited on the hardwood Monday night as the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team took the trip down Whitney Avenue to the Payne Whitney Gymnasium in New Haven to face the Yale Bulldogs for its first game of the 2024-25 season.
The two squads were set to face one another for the first time since Dec. 11 last year, a matchup in Hamden which saw Yale pull away with the 73-66 victory.
With five first-year players and two transfer students on the roster this year, The Bobcats used the off-season to re-tool following a loss in buzzer-beater fashion to Saint Peter’s University in the MAAC tournament last season.
Yale entered this contest coming off a round of 32 appearances in the NCAA tournament in March, taking down the No. 4 seeded Auburn Tigers in the first round as a No. 13 seed before falling to the San Diego State Aztecs.
The Bulldogs were led by senior guard John Poulakidas, who put himself on the map following a 28-point performance against Auburn on the biggest stage in college basketball.
Yale looked to set the tone early, jumping out to a 16-5 lead four minutes in, and forcing the Bobcats to take a timeout, much to the liking of Bulldog fans.
Poulakidas had seven of the Bulldog’s first 16. He finished the game with 19 points.
Yale outscored Quinnipiac 11-1 in the last five minutes of the first half, heading to the locker room with a commanding 41-29 lead.
While the Bulldogs ran up the scoreboard, the real story was the dominance on the glass. Yale grabbed 50 total rebounds in the game compared to Quinnipiac’s 27.
“[Yale’s] opportunity to get more possessions, it’s like a hockey game when there’s more shots on goal,” Quinnipiac head coach Tom Pecora said. “You just can’t win that way.”
The Bulldogs exploded in the opening minutes of the second half just like how they had in the first, as back-to-back threes capped by a fastbreak jam from first-year forward Isaac Celiscar extended the Yale lead to 20 with 16 minutes remaining in the game.
“I felt good, it felt great playing with the guys.” Celiscar said on his first collegiate game.
Yale kept its foot on the pedal right up until the final buzzer to pick up the win, 88-62.
“That connectivity we had tonight was really good, and it made the difference for us.” Yale head coach James Jones said.
Quinnipiac junior forward Amari Monroe led the game in scoring with 23 points. Graduate forward Paul Otieno had a team-high eight rebounds and led the game with four blocks.
The Bobcats will host the WPI Engineers for their home opener on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
Yale will travel to Chicago on Friday to take on the UIC Flames.
“I think there was more of just a grit and toughness to them,” Pecora said about the Bulldogs’ game.
