Losing sucks, but what hurts even more is losing when you play well.

Quinnipiac played some of its best defensive ball of the entire season in its matchup against Merrimack, and kept up on offense with the Warriors.

“If you hold a team to 34% from the field and get out-rebounded by 20, you usually win,” head coach Tom Pecora said. “Our shooting percentages… ick, but that’s what happens… we gotta win out now and try to battle for second place to get that bye.”

In the end, it just wasn’t meant to be, as a late-game surge by Merrimack sealed the deal. 

The Bobcats did not start off well, digging themselves into a 9-0 hole by settling for contested midrange jumpers and allowing the Warriors to score from beyond the arc.

Merrimack graduate student guard Andrés Marrero hit two early threes, while Quinnipiac finally managed to get on the scoreboard with a layup from sophomore forward Spence Wewe.

That bucket from the big man started a momentum train for the Bobcats, who swapped the jumpers for layups and managed to cut into the Warriors’ lead.

From the opening tip-off, Quinnipiac established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the paint, both on offense and defense. Offensive rebounds became a huge advantage for Quinnipac, who managed to snag seven of them in the first ten minutes of the contest.

In the current landscape of basketball, the outcome of most games is a high-scoring affair with a lot of shots from beyond-the-arc, not this one.

This contest was one that seemed straight out of a time machine. Tough, gritty defense and an allergy to making shots from the three-point line.

Both teams showed intense defensive IQ, making the perfect switch at the perfect time, swatting balls in the passing lanes, fighting for loose balls, and refusing the opponent to have any easy buckets.

Senior forward Amari Monroe was loving it. The reigning MAAC Player of the Year took a hard fall going for a rebound, but he pumped his fists on the ground and gave his teammates high fives as he got up. Why? He got the board. 

As the buzzer sounded and players began to walk into the locker rooms at halftime, the scoreboard read 21-21. Quinnipiac did not make a single three and both teams were shooting under 30% from the field.

The name of the game for Quinnipiac was rebounding; it’s the reason the team was in this game to begin with. 

Monroe and Wewe feasted on the boards during the first half, and the Bobcats led the Warriors in offensive rebounds by a mile. Quinnipiac snagged 16 offensive boards in the first half compared to Merrimack’s lowly two. 

But the Warriors made up for it by hitting their shots beyond-the-arc. Three will always be a bigger number than two, so this contest was tied going into the second half.

As the final half of play began, the Bobcats broke their three-point woes as sophomore guard Jaden Zimmerman pulled up from the top of the key and drained his shot.

Randall wanted in on the action as well. Rather than settling for a three-pointer, the forward cut to the basket, received the rock, and delivered a two-handed slam right on top of Merrimack junior forward Todd Brogna.

The crowd erupted, and Randall started Brogna down as he hung from the rim, as the junior became the latest victim of the Randall poster. 

But the Warriors weren’t going anywhere, freshman guard Kevair Kennedy was almost singlehandedly keeping Merrimack in the ballgame. His fifth bucket of the night cut Quinnipiac’s lead to just one with ten minutes to play. It was anyone’s game. 

Warriors junior forward KC Ugwuakazi was another thorn on the side of Quinnipiac that the Bobcats had to deal with all game. His ability to find open space and slam home dunks and reject shots on the other end proved to be critical for Merrimack’s success.

As time dwindled, neither team could get the edge. If one team got a bucket, the other reciprocated. If a team missed, so did their counterpart. 

That was until Merrimack junior guard Ernest Shelton put up a floater to finally break the curse, putting the Warriors up by five. With under two minutes to go, the Bobcats needed to play their best brand of basketball to avoid a sixth conference loss.

With a minute left on the clock, Zimmerman pulled up from deep to try and cut the lead to two and play hero, but his shot hit the side of the backboard, and Quinnipiac needed a prayer to come out with the win.

But no one answered those calls, Merrimack hit its free throws, and Quinnipiac has now lost more than five conference games for the first time since the 2022 season.

Quinnipiac will stay home as the team will take on Fairfield on Feb. 22. The first tip-off is set for 2 p.m.