After Thursday’s defeat of Long Island University, which entailed Senior co-captain Bill Romano achieving 1,000 career point status, the Quinnipiac Men’s Basketball team was looking to continue their winning streak on Saturday against the perfect 3-0 St. Francis (NY) Red Flash. However, three points in the last 3:30 of play would spell disaster for the Braves, as they would drop this home contest 75-71.
Quinnipiac opened up the first half of action on an 11-5 run. Forward C.J. Vick made his presence felt immediately by contributing 10 points in the first half alone.
However, St. Francis was able to keep this game tight with numerous free throw attempts made by being in the bonus with 9:30 left in the half.
With just under 5 minutes of play in the half, Quinnipiac would make a bit of a run with some finesse paint play by Center Bill Romano, which would cushion Quinnipiac’s lead to six points, 33-27, at the end of the first half.
As the second half opened, the Braves continued to play aggressively, stepping up their defense with crucial rebounds and numerous charges taken. This would allow them to continue to lead the game, although that lead would never get past ten points. However, with 3:30 left in the game, the Red Flash began to make a big run by narrowing down the to just two points, 68-66. They would then take the final lead of the game with one minute to go, when St. Francis’s Jason Morgan would sink a 15-footer from the corner, and Carl Sanders would sink a floater on the nest possession, to make the score 72-69.
Quinnipiac would then bring the ball down and put it into the hands of Jeremy Bishop, would hit the turnaround jumper and bring the back within one point. The Braves then had to continually foul the Red Flash in hopes that they would catch a break, however, St Francis was red hot on the line, sinking 4 for 4 from the like in the last 10 seconds. The game would end in 75-71 loss for Quinnipiac, making their NEC record 1-1.