By: Ryan Chichester
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Quinnipiac men’s basketball took care of business in thrilling fashion on Thursday night by defeating Manhattan 71-70. The victory moves the Bobcats into a tie for fifth-place with the Jaspers in the MAAC, though the Bobcats are now the proud owner of the crucial tiebreaker.
Now that the Bobcats earned a huge win against the team that was just ahead of them in the standings, they will look to claim a victory against the team right behind them.
The Fairfield Stags are just one game back of the Bobcats after beating Marist on Thursday night, and will have the luxury of their home floor against the Bobcats on Saturday afternoon, where they are 8-3 this season (while the Bobcats are 3-10 away from Hamden). Fortunately for the Bobcats, the road team has won the past seven games of this series.
Here’s what to keep an eye on in Saturday’s matinee:
Encore for Isaiah?
The Bobcats handled the Stags three weeks back in a 75-70 victory at the Nassau Coliseum, thanks to a superb defensive effort on star scorer Tyler Nelson, who failed to score a bucket through the game’s first 15 minutes. He finished the game shooting just 4-for-18 from the field.
Nelson, still the MAAC’s leading scorer at 21.5 points per game, was held in check thanks to the defensive play of Isaiah Washington, who was in the middle of his best defensive stretch of the season. Washington has been a fixture in the starting lineup all season despite his shooting inconsistencies, and the win against Fairfield showed why Baker Dunleavy refuses to take him out of the starting rotation.
Isaiah Washington (PC: Quinnipiac Athletics)
“(Isaiah) knows he’s a great defender and he’ll be on the court because the coaches trust him,” Dunleavy said after the Bobcats’ win over Fairfield last month.
Washington will have to be ready to lock down Nelson again, which will be a tougher assignment the second time around. Nelson will be more comfortable on his own floor, and Fairfield head coach Sydney Johnson will be extra attentive in his efforts to get his star senior in a rhythm early, which Washington refused to allow back in Long Island. Once again, the Washington/Nelson matchup will likely decide who wins this game.
Let it fly
For much of this season, the Bobcats held the undesirable label of being the worst three-point defense in the MAAC, but their next opponent has relieved them of that burden. Fairfield opponents are shooting a conference-best 40.2-percent from downtown this season, which was up to par in the teams’ first matchup this season when the Bobcats shot 40-percent from three.
The hot hand for the Bobcats in that first game was Andrew Robinson, who hit four of his eight triples to lead the three-point attack. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, Robinson has missed the last five games to an ankle sprain that hasn’t healed as quickly as the team hoped. Robinson participated in Thursday’s pregame shootaround, but was back in a walking boot by the start of the game.
“He’ll do treatments tomorrow and run, but as of now I’m just hoping,” Dunleavy said after the game on Thursday night.
Should Robinson have to sit out another game, his brother Aaron will be a candidate to help shoulder the three-point load with Jacob Rigoni, the MAAC’s best three-point shooter. If the Fairfield defense gives the Bobcats some room on the perimeter, shooters like Rigoni and Robinson should be ready to pull the trigger and lead the Bobcats to another big win.
