Brown Head Coach Craig Robinson thought his team was in trouble heading into overtime against Quinnipiac (2-4) on Monday night. The Bobcats had won both of their games so far this season in double overtime, and Robinson surely did not want to have to play the Bobcats in what seemed to be their comfort zone so far this season. Luckily for Robinson, the Bears took care of business and left the TD Banknorth Sports Center with an 86-79 victory.
“We lost to a really experienced team that is very tough to defend in the half court,” Quinnipiac Head Coach Tom Moore said about the Bears who start three seniors and two juniors.
Senior Karl Anderson, playing only in his second game since returning from injury, gave the Bobcats the 74-72 lead with 1:26 remaining in regulation. Two free throws by Scott Friske tied the game back up with 1:14 remaining. Brown’s Damon Huffman had the chance to be the hero, but his jumper fell just short at the buzzer. In the overtime, Brown (4-3) scored the first six points and shot 7-10 from the free throw line to secure their second victory in three days.
Brown used a well-balanced attack as all five Bear starters recorded double-digit point totals. Senior Mark McAndrew led the Bears with 21 points and eight rebounds. Huffman scored 18, while Friske and Chris Skrelja each netted 11 points. Rounding out the Bears starting five was Mark MacDonald who scored 10 points on 5-8 shooting.
For the Bobcats, DeMario Anderson led all scorers with 22 points and seven assists. Quinnipiac was unable to find their leading scorer any good looks in the overtime as he was shut out in the extra period.
“They found out the things we were trying to do,” DeMario said of the Bears defense in the overtime. “They were shading to my side.”
Evann Baker scored ten points and grabbed six rebounds for the Bobcats, but also had eight turnovers. James Feldeine also netted 10 points and hit a couple of big threes in crunch time.
Moore credited the Brown offense for being efficient, but he did not like what he saw from his team’s perimeter defense, especially in the first half when the Bears shot 7-13 from behind the arc. The Bobcats had trouble defending the dribble hand offs.
In the second half and overtime though, Quinnipiac held the Bears to 1-11 three point shooting.
“We were a little more alert in the second half,” Moore said of his team’s defense.
In the first half, Quinnipiac and Brown played very evenly. The Bears held the biggest lead of the half when they took a six point advantage at 31-25. At halftime, Brown held a 38-36 advantage. The Bears would quickly race out to a 51-41. However, the Bobcats would respond with an impressive 22-6 run and take the 63-57 lead, their biggest of the game.
Quinnipiac will return to action on Thursday when they take on St. Francis (N.Y.) in their NEC opener at 7 p.m. at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.
