The last four years at Quinnipiac have been a time for seniors Rob Monroe and C.J. Vick to see their teammates be honored during senior day. They have seen the likes of Jeremy Bishop, Jared Grasso, Rashaun Banjo, Kason Mims and Bill Romano be announced and escorted with their parents to center court to receive a plaque and get their picture taken. And now the day has come for these two men to do the same along with two year Bobcat member Pierre Faye. Together, the three men received praise from a near capacity crowd at Burt Kahn Court on Feb. 19. The game against Robert Morris would go a bit differently for the men.
It started out as one of ‘those’ games. Both teams traded 3-pointers for the first 5:00 minutes of the game, combining for seven three-pointers.
Despite their ability to hit the long range bomb, the Colonials also committed three offensive fouls early, setting the tone for what would be a physical game. But that physical nature did not translate
into referees blowing their whistles.
Both teams played the first half like the paint was a forbidden land settling for jumpshots by the bushel.
The Bobcats’ long range ability began to be outshadowed by the Colonials who could not miss, going 8-11 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of action.
The Colonials started to pull away, going up 36-25 with 5:35 to go when Quinnipiac’s superman, Monroe, started to take over. The Bob Cousy Award finalist hit back-to-back three-pointers and junior guard Craig Benson hit a lay-up bringing the deficit to six, the closest the ‘Cats would be the rest of the day.
When Robert Morris senior and NEC All-Conference selection Chaz McCrommon tomahawk dunked from inside the free throw line on a fast break, it silenced the 1,900 fans.
“It was a tough loss,” Vick said after the game. “I wish we could have pulled it out but they just wouldn’t miss.”
The Bobcats went into the half down 46-33 but all hope was not lost. After all, the ‘Cats did have Monroe, who is in the top 50 in the country in four statistical categories, Benson who is having a career year and Vick who would be leading the nation in field goal perc. [.637] if he qualified.
“These kids won’t quit,” head coach Joe DeSantis said.
McCrommon had 17 points at the half, good for a game high while Monroe paced QU with 13 points. They were the only two players in double figures at the intermission.
The second half proved to be nothing but a tease for the ‘Cats and its fans. Never getting closer than seven points, Quinnipiac suffered its third loss in its last four games and eighth in its last 11 overall.
For the game, RMU shot 55.6 percent from long distance compared to Quinnipiac’s 36.0 percent.
This game was more about the seniors and what they have brought to the table.
“I never thought this day would come,” Vick said. “It is like a passage of time for us. I got to see Kason [Mims], Jeremy [Bishop] and Bill [Romano] do this, and now it was our turn.”
Although the season is over, it is unclear whether these Bobcats will make the NEC play-offs. One thing is for sure. These three men have played their last game at home in a blue, gold and white Bobcat uniform.
