The Quinnipiac men’s basketball team clinched a spot in the 2025 MAAC Basketball Championship tournament with a 79-74 win over the Iona Gaels on Sunday.
The Bobcats got meaningful contributions across the board, with four players in double figures. One of those players was Jaden Zimmerman, who was in the starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 25 following a career-high 24 points against Sacred Heart on Thursday. The first-year guard scored 16 points in Sunday’s win, with 10 in the second half.
“I’m just trying to stay consistent,” Zimmerman said after the game. “My teammates always trust me to make plays even though I’m a freshman so I’m just trying to stay consistent.”
Quinnipiac head coach Tom Pecora praised Zimmerman and how his maturity is ahead of many first years.
“He’s so calm and collected,” Pecora said, “He plays at his own pace. He doesn’t get sped up which is generally what freshmen do…He doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses.”
Pecora also talked about it being a tough conference game, and how the team’s depth showed with Doug Young having 15 points and Khaden Bennett putting up eight in the final five and a half minutes of the game.
“I talked to the team about depth and you know it really panned out and showed out,” Pecora said, “It was really a great team effort.”
The first four minutes of the contest featured back-and-forth action, with Quinnipiac making its first five shots capped off by an Amarri Monroe corner three. Yet while Iona only made three of its first eight shots, the Gaels made two three-pointers and kept the deficit at three. Iona then went on a run of their own, outscoring Quinnipiac 11-3 over five minutes, with five different players scoring in the stretch.
After a layup from Young made the score 17-16 Iona, Monroe got aggressive, scoring nine points in six minutes to match the Gaels. Quinnipiac also got baskets from Paul Otieno and Zimmerman during that span, with Otieno making his first field goal of the game (a three-pointer on the wing) and Zimmerman throwing down a two-handed slam in transition.
Up 30-26, Quinnipiac turned the ball over on three straight possessions, and Iona’s DeJour Reaves took advantage, going on a 6-0 run by himself to give the Gaels a 32-30 lead. After another pair of Quinnipiac turnovers, Pecora called a timeout with 1:27 left in the half. Lewis then found Young on the wing for a deep three that the senior guard buried to put the Bobcats up by one.
On the ensuing possession, Iona’s Clarence Rupert gave the Gaels the lead with a layup inside, but it wouldn’t last as Quinnipiac broke the press and Lewis drove to the basket to put the Bobcats up 35-34 at the end of 20 minutes.
Iona began the second half with possession but missed a shot inside. Monroe pulled down the rebound for the Bobcats but appeared injured as he crossed half-court and called a timeout himself. Without the preseason MAAC Player of the Year, the Bobcats fell behind 48-43 just over five minutes into the half.
Quinnipiac answered with an 11-2 run to go up by four, with Monroe coming back to the court with just over 11 minutes left in the game highlighted by a Zimmerman three and Young mid-range jump shot.
Later on, with 6:30 left in the second half, Bennett and Monroe (who finished the afternoon with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season) pushed the Iona defense, with both players scoring multiple buckets inside to lead a 10-3 Quinnipiac run.
After Iona head coach Tobin Anderson elected to call a timeout, freshman guard Adam Njie Jr. made a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two. Young made a three of his own, but Njie Jr. responded with another shot from behind the arc.
Trying to keep the momentum, Bennett, who made SportsCenter’s Top 10 with a dunk back in January, put up another highlight-worthy dunk to put the Bobcats up four and send M&T Bank Arena into a frenzy with two minutes left in regulation.
After Quinnipiac’s defense stepped up to make two stops, Bennett went to the line and made two free throws to put the Bobcats up 77-71. Another Iona miss led to Zimmerman being sent to the line, but he was only able to convert on one free throw. Reaves, who led Iona with 15 points, banked in a triple to keep the Gaels’ hopes alive. After Young missed the back end of a one-and-one, Iona had one last chance, but Reaves’ shot couldn’t find nylon and the Bobcats secured the rebound to give them the five-point victory.
With a conference tournament berth now clinched, Monroe understands the importance of these games down the stretch but is confident in his team’s ability to compete.
“We’re starting to click as a team,” Monroe said, “This is the most important time in the season. February going into March is where a team [can] either rise or fall, and we’re not going to fall.”
After reclaiming the top seed in the MAAC, Quinnipiac will enjoy a week off before traveling to face Manhattan on Sunday, Feb. 23.
