HAMDEN — Quinnipiac men’s basketball celebrated a return to its home court with a 71-47 win over Worcester Polytechnic Institute Thursday night in a game marked by familiar faces.
Quinnipiac assistant coach Jeff Robinson faced off against his alma mater for the first time since joining the Bobcats. Robinson played for the Engineers from 2008-2011 and proceeded to spend four seasons (2018-22) as an assistant coach and director of recruiting in Worcester.
“It gives them a great opportunity to have that experience,” Robinson said. “I think it’s special, as a Division III player, you live to be able to play those games. You want to give them that same opportunity.”
On the opposite bench was graduate student guard Nicholas Margetson who played for the Bobcats for two years (2022-24). Margetson finished with four points, two assists and two steals.
“Excited, getting a chance to play against the guys,” Margetson said. “Those guys are my family over there. So like being on the other side, getting to compete against them, definitely excited to be here.”
After Yale defeated the Bobcats on Monday night, there were no apparent changes in the starting lineup for head coach Tom Pecora’s squad.
But this change was short-lived when junior guard Ryan Mabrey committed two quick fouls within the first three minutes of play and in came sophomore guard Khaden Bennett. Coming off the bench, Bennett finished with 10 points and four rebounds.
“I put a lot of work in to be able to come in and have that type of role,” Bennett said. “I just want to play team ball and do what I can to help contribute to the wins.”
Freshman guard Jaden Zimmerman was another player that impressed off the bench. Zimmerman showed his high-flying athletic ability and his three-point touch — hitting two three-pointers on the night.
“It feels great being a freshman,” Zimmerman said. “I worked so hard to get to this level. Being able to showcase my talents and show how I am able to play with the older guys was very beautiful.”
WPI kept it close in the first half, ending on a 5-0 run to shrink the Bobcats lead to 11 . The second half was more of the same with sloppy play on both sides. The Bobcats shot 35.5% from the field with committing seven turnovers, the same could be said for the Engineers who committed seven turnovers, but shot a mere 20%.
What stood out was that the Bobcats amassed a 22-0 run for 10 minutes before senior forward Brett Marelli stopped the scoreless drought. Mabrey came back in during the stretch to drill eight of the first 10 points of the run with two three-pointers and a layup showing his ability to have a presence when given the opportunity.
At that point, the Bobcats were up 20 able to breeze through the rest of the second half.
“I think just having energy, taking advantage of what we’re good at, we had the speed advantage,” Bennett said. “Being able to just get out, get stops and be able to run was a big thing for us.”
The Bobcats now look onto Big East opponent St. John’s Saturday afternoon with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m.
“I grew up miles from there,” Pecora said. “I used to walk the games there and sneak in the back door when I was 10 years old, into the same arena. St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino and I are good friends, and it was nice for him to do this for us, especially this early in the year.”
