ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The No. 1 Quinnipiac men’s basketball team fell to No.4 Iona 81-73 in the MAAC semifinals Friday night.
Iona hit a three-pointer to start the game which was quickly followed by a three from Amarri Monroe. Iona went on a 13-6 run until the first media time out.
Later on in the first half, the Gaels continued to build on their lead as the Bobcats didn’t take lead of the game once as they led by just 10 at the first half closing out from a three pointer from Monroe.
Trailing 23-13, the Bobcats showed resilience with strong offensive rebounding. Doug Young, Jaden Zimmerman, and Amarri Monroe each missed a three-pointer, but the team secured the offensive rebound each miss, with Khaden Bennett grabbing three of the o-boards.
“We’ve been resilient all year, at halftime we were down ten and we told ourselves we’ve been down all year in multiple games but we always took our way back. We made our way back tonight but they made the extra plays. The 50-50 balls were all in theirs, it’s how they got out with the win,” Amarri Monore said
After Bennett missed a jumper but secured another rebound, Zimmerman finally capitalized with a jumper, assisted by Bennett, to keep the momentum alive.
The second half looked a lot different for the Bobcats as it started off as a back and forth until Jaden Zimmerman dunked the ball to bring up the energy of the game. Still trailing by 10 the Bobcats needed something more and Zimmerman brought that.
In a three-minute stretch Quinnipiac shot 4-2 from three. One three coming from Alexis Reyes on a fast break play. Then back-to-back threes from Jaden Zimmerman and a three from Doug Young, the score is 57-43.
Doug Young made a steal, and although Paul Otieno missed a layup in the paint, Amari Monroe quickly followed with a steal of his own. Young came up with another steal, then assisted Monroe, who dunked the ball to bring energy to the game.
“Doug, he’s the heart you know? He had such an up and down year. He faced a lot of adversity. Although we lost today, he showed what it means to be persistent, and I hope that everyone was able to see that,” said Savion Lewis.
Young grabbed an offensive rebound on the next possession and capped off the sequence with a smooth jumper in the paint, tying the game at 59
DeJour Reaves was fouled and scored an and-one to give them back the lead. Jaden Zimmerman answered with an and-one of his own as the score is 68-64.
The Bobcats didn’t let up as they kept attacking the basket. Next possession, another layup from Zimmerman and Bennett followed by yet another dunk by Monroe. It wasn’t enough for the Bobcats as Iona went on a 10-1 run to end the game, including a block by Jalen Barr, and a fast-break dunk.
Amarri scored the final point for the Bobcats with a three-pointer, his last basket of the season.
Amarri Monroe led the team with 25 points, showcasing his efficiency by going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Jaden Zimmerman followed with a strong performance, finishing with 17 points on an impressive 7-for-10 shooting from the field, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc to conclude his freshman season.
Alexis Reyes contributed 10 points, shooting 3-for-6 from the field and 2-for-4 from three-point range.
Doug Young added eight points and two steals, going 3-for-6 from the field, rounding out a solid all-around effort from the team.
