Bobcats fend off Peacocks’ come-back efforts with balanced scoring.
JERSEY CITY — There’s a good reason Quinnipiac (23-8, 15-5) is the regular-season men’s MAAC champions and the 1-seed in the upcoming MAAC Tournament. The Bobcats present matchup problems. The Bobcats boasted four players in double figures in their 89-74 victory over the Peacocks (16-13 overall, 12-8 MAAC) Saturday afternoon at Run Baby Run Arena.
Peacocks coach Bashir Mason: I thought Quinnipiac had a championship-level mentality today. They were intense, focused, and dialed in. Quinnipiac made all the plays and has talented guys. They know how to get specific guys to score.
Anytime Quinnipiac needed a shot or bucket, Matt Balanc (25 points) and Amarri Tice (14 points) were there to provide it. When Balanc and Tice were defended well, Paul Otieno (18 points) came through. Those three got solid support from Alexis Reyes (9 points), Rihards Vavers (10 points), and Savion Lewis (7 points).
The stat line told the game story. Quinnipiac outscored Saint Peter’s 40-30 in the paint, got 11 points off 13 turnovers, and shot 56% from the field/60% from three-point range. Saint Peter’s only led a few times, which came very early, at 4-2 and 5-4. Otherwise, the afternoon was Qunnipiac’s, even when the Peacocks cut the QU lead to five points multiple times during the afternoon.
After SPU cut the lead to 31-26, Balanc spearheaded a 10-2 run with a couple of 3s to give Quinnipiac a 41-28 lead with 5:47 to go in the first half. The Peacocks’ Corey Washington (21 points) again cut the QU lead to five at 45-40, but Vavers came through this time, hitting a 3-pointer, to give the Bobcats a 48-40 halftime lead. Saint Peter’s made another run to cut the Bobcats’ lead to five, 68-63, but found quickly that the third time was not the charm. Balanc again spearheaded the Bobcats’ response, and the lead ballooned to ten, 77-67 lead. Saint Peter’s cut the deficit to 77-72 with a Marcus Randolph 3, but QU sprinted again, this time with a 12-2 run, to finish off the Peacocks.
In this regular-season finale, Roy Clarke, Oumar Diahame, and Latrell Reid were honored on Senior Day before the game. For his part, Washington finished the year as Saint Peter’s points leader (16.8 ppg) and rebound leader (6.4 rpg). Saturday was Washington’s tenth game of the season in which he scored 20 or more points.
Now it’s on to the MAAC tournament, and despite losing two in a row to finish the regular season, Mason is optimistic about his team’s chances. “The program is taking a step in the right direction,” Mason declared in his post-game presser. “We are crazy enough to believe we can win it all.”
That quest will begin Thursday night at 9p in Atlantic City when the 5-seed Peacocks take on 4-seed Rider (15-16, 12-8). It will be the year’s third meeting between the squads, with the Peacocks looking for their first win. The Broncs won just a few days ago in Lawrenceville, 61-56 (Washington, 22 points), and took the January tilt in Jersey City by a like-numbered score, 62-57 (Reid, 17 points).
