Quinnipiac men’s basketball team is off to an impressive start to the season. After being picked to finish seventh in the NEC, the Bobcats stand at 3-2 overall.
They started off their season strong, defeating the Hartford Hawks and the Army Black Knights in buzzer-beating action.
Against the Hawks, freshman DeAndre’ Bynum hit the game-winning three-pointer with less than a minute remaining and sophomore Justin Rutty blocked a last second field goal attempt to defeat the Hawks, 63-62 .
The Bobcats were able to use their momentum against Army as they won in dramatic fashion again. At the end of regulation, Army’s Nathan Hedgecock hit an off-balance three-point shot to tie the game at 56.
In overtime, junior Jeremy Baker hit the game-winning shot with 2.2 seconds remaining to win the game by a score of 66-64.
The Bobcats went on the road to take part in the Columbia Tournament. On Nov. 21, the Bobcats took on the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Retrievers. After taking a 37-35 lead at halftime, the Bobcats could not hold on. Retriever senior forward Darryl Proctor posted a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds as the Terriers dominated the second half, outscoring the Bobcats 41-34 to win the game with a score of 76-71.
On Nov. 22, the Bobcats played the Bryant Bulldogs in the consolation game of the tournament. They went cold from the free throw line, going three for ten in the game. The Bulldogs were up 31-25 at half and they continued their success in the second half, outscoring the Bobcats 28-25 to win the game 59-50.
In their latest game against the University of Maine, Rutty posted the team’s best performance, scoring 30 points to lead the Bobcats to a 73-66 win. Rutty was the Northeast Conference’s most accurate shooter last year with a shooting percentage of 59 percent. After his first five games this season, he is shooting 68.9 percent.
Junior James Feldeine scored 14 points in the game, and has been the Bobcats’ most consistent scorer early in the season.
Feldeine has averaged 16.2 points per game and leads the team with 81 points overall.
Another bright spot for the team has been freshman James Johnson. In the victory against Maine, Johnson had 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and three steals.
The team begins conference play this Saturday against Monmouth University.
