Quinnipiac men’s basketball’s road trip brought no surprises, beating last-place St. Francis (Pa.) and losing to first-place Robert Morris.
Quinnipiac edged out the victory over St. Francis, 59-55 on Feb. 12. Justin Rutty’s efficient shooting paced the Bobcats, who shot a mere 42..3 percent as a team. Rutty had a team-leading seven rebounds to go along with 15 points, knocking down seven of 11 shots from the field.
Trailing by one point going into the second half, the Bobcats needed a spark from somebody. Senior Bryan Geffen stepped up by scoring all of his 11 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer with just 3:17 remaining in the game that gave the Bobcats the lead for good.
St. Francis is now 2-12 and remains in last place in the NEC. Quinnipiac headed west with the win to NEC powerhouse Robert Morris.
The Bobcats did not go quietly into the night when they faced the Robert Morris Colonials on Feb. 14. Down by three with just seven seconds remaining, James Feldeine had a chance to tie it for the Bobcats, but the shot rimmed out. A couple of Colonial free throws sealed the deal, finalizing the score 69-64.
Rob Robinson of the Colonials and Feldeine put on a show for the 779 fans in attendance at the Charles L. Sewal Center. Robinson, the 6-foot-8 inch forward, scored 22 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and had five steals.
Feldeine led all scorers with 25 points – 12 of which came from beyond the arc. Feldeine also had five rebounds and four steals to add to his game-line.
The Bobcats had a 63-60 lead with 3:28 left in the game after Geffen hit a three from the corner. Jeremy Chappel’s three-point play gave the Colonials the lead for the final two minutes and 30 seconds of the game.
Robert Morris has only lost one game in the NEC all season, and that was against St. Francis (N.Y.) last December. Quinnipiac fell to 7-7 and is tied with Central Connecticut St. for fifth place. These two teams will meet in their last game of the year on Feb. 28.
The Bobcats resume play tomorrow night when they host the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at 7 p.m.
