Photo courtesy: Quinnipiac Athletics
Changes within a college basketball program over the course of four seasons are commonplace. There are new coaches, new teammates, and in this instance, a new conference. One constant remains, the class of 2015.
A jovial mood in the press conference by the six Quinnipiac men’s basketball seniors after a thorough beating on Friday night set the tone; they were happy, and rightfully so. A double-digit victory on ESPNU against the Siena Saints on the final home game of their career sent a polished group of young men walking off Lender Court smiling.
The seniors combined for 64 of the Bobcats 73 points. T’ziah Wood-Smith and Emanuel Binyam combined for no points, but to head coach Tom Moore they may be more valuable than the box score indicates.
“They galvanize the locker room,” Moore said. “They galvanize in the respect that some of these guys have in Z [Hearst] and Ous [Drame]. It’s not like if Z or Ous scored this many points you have this rank. It’s amazing how that all sort of works out. We’ve had great walk-ons in the past. Those two are real stabilizing forces with strong personalities that sacrifice a lot to our program.”
Siena led by four points during the early portion of the game, but with just more than 12 minutes to play in the first half, an Evan Conti 3-pointer sparked an 18-0 run for Quinnipiac. The Bobcats turned a 10-7 deficit into a 25-10 lead during a span of six minutes and 42 seconds. From there, they cruised to victory.
So, you may wonder, what’s next? Where are they now?
Well, to be quite frank, nowhere yet.
They snapped a three-game losing streak and with the help of Marist’s win against Saint Peter’s, solidified the sixth seed in the MAAC Tournament in Albany next week.
No, the Bobcats did not finish high enough to earn a first round bye, but the No. 6 seed could end up greatly benefiting the team. Regular season champion Iona, which swept Quinnipiac this year, is on the opposite side of the bracket. Quinnipiac’s record against its opponent for the opening two games, assuming it does advance, is 6-1. Those teams include a first round matchup against either Fairfield or Marist, and a second round matchup against Monmouth or Manhattan. If Rider, the second-seed, reaches the semifinals, Quinnipiac would have an excellent opportunity to win. Just a few games ago, Rider announced 7-foot center Matt Lopez will miss the remainder of the regular season with a torn ACL. Enter double-double machine Ousmane Drame and the best rebounding team in the nation. There is a chance the Bobcats could make a run.
While the road to a championship game looks promising, Moore keeps things in perspective.
“It’s going to sound boring, but Monday’s championship game seems like eons away,” he said. “We just have to get through Thursday, have a practice on Friday and then let’s see. See if you can get Saturday, because then you can ride some emotion and you’re in the final four. And you go from there.”
Four games in five days is a tall task. This team has not won four straight games all season. In fact, they have won three straight games three times. However, senior captain Zaid Hearst is quite optimistic.
“Next week, we’re going to shock some people,” Hearst said confidently. “There are a lot of people that are doubting us right now.”
With seeding discussion aside, Quinnipiac now heads to Draddy Gymnasium for the final regular season game of the year. They will encounter Steve Masiello’s third-place Manhattan Jaspers, Sunday afternoon. Tip time is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN3.
Post Game Nuggets
- Kasim Chandler was not in attendance on Friday night. The sophomore point guard suffered a concussion during practice earlier in the week. Moore said Chandler is “very doubtful” for Sunday.
- Justin Harris, Conti, Drame and Hearst combined for 35 of the teams 37 first half points.
- Hearst registered his first 20-point performance since Feb. 1 at Niagara when he dropped 26 points.
- Quinnipiac shot 27-31 from the free throw line. It sits at 77.6 percent as a team and is tied for fourth among all Division I teams.
- The 13 blocked shots were the most in a game for Quinnipiac since Jan. 21, 2010.
- The Bobcats are 2-0 this year when playing on ESPNU.
- Definite seeding so far: Iona- No. 1, Rider- No. 2, Canisius- No. 5, Quinnipiac- No. 6
