ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The No. 1 Quinnipiac men’s basketball team secured a spot in the MAAC semifinals with a 78-64 victory over the No. 8 Rider in the quarterfinals Wednesday night.
Four Bobcats scored in double figures, led by MAAC Player of the Year Amarri Monroe, who finished with 23 points and eight rebounds. Savion Lewis stepped up with 14 points, while Khaden Bennett added 13 and Paul Otieno chipped in 10.
“They were pushing up on the screen and going under, so it gave me a lot of space and a lot of time to create and manipulate the defense,” Lewis said, “I figured if I started off aggressive, it would open up a lot of my passing lanes.”
Monroe had a slow start, shooting just 1-for-5 early on. But he settled in, scoring 13 points in the second half and finishing 7-for-15 from the field.
“We just fell into place with the game,” Monroe said, “Early on, I tried to force a lot of shots to get myself going, but my coaches told me to relax and let it come to me.”
Alexis Reyes and Jaden Zimmerman each contributed eight points. Reyes was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line and pulled down nine rebounds.
Quinnipiac shot 17-for-34 from the field in the first half but struggled from beyond the arc, making just four of 13 three-point attempts. Lewis was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, while Reyes made up for missed drives with strong free-throw shooting (4-for-4).
After a back-and-forth start, Quinnipiac took control with 14 minutes left in the first half and closed on a 14-3 run to build momentum heading into the second half.
Free throws were a key factor, with Quinnipiac shooting 76% (19-for-25) from the line.
“(Former coach) Hugh Durham said, ‘Teams who can’t make free throws are like dogs who chase cars — they don’t last very long, so it’s going to bite you in the tail,’” head coach Tom Pecora said, “It’s something we work on every day, and we do it in a hundred different ways.”
The Bobcats outrebounded Rider 39-32 and held Rider forward Tariq Ingraham to eight rebounds. Quinnipiac capitalized on Rider’s nine turnovers, converting them into 10 points.
Quinnipiac led for 35:47, with both teams shooting 27-for-59 from the field.
The Bobcats will play in the MAAC semifinal game on Friday against the winner of Iona-Manhattan tomorrow.
