The Quinnipiac men’s basketball team had its hearts broken Monday when it lost on a last-second shot to Navy.
In their fourth straight road game, the Bobcats struggled early, shooting 36 percent from the field in the first half. Navy, on the other hand, found early success, making half of its first half field goals and took a 38-24 lead into halftime.
Things were different in the second half as the Bobcats roared back from a 17-point deficit. The Bobcats dominated in the paint, outscoring Navy 18-0 in the second half. And the Bobcats doubled their field goal percentage as Navy’s was cut in half.
Quinnipiac forward Justin Rutty tied the game at 62 with two seconds left. After a timeout, Navy inbounded the ball to guard Chris Harris, who hit a half-court, buzzer-beating 3-pointer of the half as time expired.
Navy took early advantage of Quinnipiac’s mistakes, scoring 13 points off turnovers in the first half. Navy failed to add to that total in the second half. Instead, it was Quinnipiac taking advantage with 11 points off turnovers. The Bobcats never led in the game.
Harris had a game-high 31 points to go with three rebounds and three assists. Quinnipiac senior forward James Feldeine led the team with 24 points.
The Bobcats took their 3-2 record into UMass, their final game of a five-game road trip. Unlike their previous game, the Bobcats started fast and ended slow, resulting in their third loss of the year. After establishing a seven-point lead, the Bobcats struggled and went into halftime on the low end of a 24-9 run.
The Bobcats played an even-matched second half, but it was not enough to catch UMass. A 3-point shot by Quinnipiac’s James Johnson beat the final buzzer, but Quinnipiac still lost 62-58. The Bobcats’ free throw shooting hurt them once again, shooting less than 55 percent for the third straight game.
Feldeine led the team for a second straight game in points with 20 while tacking on eight rebounds and an assist.
After playing five of their first sx games on the road, the Bobcats will head home with a 3-3 record and get ready to take on Fairleigh Dickinson at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be Quinnipiac’s first conference game of the year, as well as the first game played at the TD Bank Sports Center.
