ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Quinnipiac played a well-rounded game in its 78-64 win over Rider in the MAAC Quarterfinals Wednesday night. But one aspect of the game that stood out as the guard play by graduate student Savion Lewis and sophomore Khaden Bennett.
The key and ignition for the Bobcats’ offense, Lewis (14 points) and Bennett (13 points) combined for 27 points.
Savion Lewis
While Lewis’ scoring has seen a significant drop this year (5.3 PPG) compared to last season (8.1 PPG), the seventh year point guard has never been a score-first player.
Lewis has always been a facilitator — in fact he ranked second in conference assists per game (6.4) — but in what’s likely his last dance as a Bobcat, he has proven he can score when called upon.
Similar to this game, Quinnipiac’s second matchup against Saint Peter’s this year on Feb. 28 saw the Peacocks’ clog the passing lanes and force Lewis to shoot.
And that’s exactly what he did, scoring a season-high 15 points en route to a 69-64 victory.
Lewis went a perfect 4-4 from the field in the first half against the Broncs, an unusual amount of shots for him to take unless there’s no other option.
When asked about his aggressive approach to the basket, Lewis reiterated that it was likely in Rider’s gameplan.
“Just how they were playing it,” Lewis said. “They were pushing up the screen and going under, so it gave me a lot of time and a lot of space to manipulate the defense.”
And Rider didn’t give him much of a choice. When he’s on the floor, everything in the Bobcats’ offense runs through Lewis. He’s the one tasked with bringing the ball up the floor.
So when the Broncs’ defensive game plan involved closing the passing lanes, Lewis was forced to drive to the rim, which didn’t work out the way Rider had hoped.
“I figured if I started off aggressive it would open up a lot of my passing lanes,” Lewis said.
Rider came to this realization by the end of the first half, as when both teams returned to action in the second half, the passing lanes opened back up for Lewis.
Lewis was back to dishing out his signature bounce pass in the perimeter, or kicking it out to the open man from three point range.
The New York native’s return as the primary facilitator led to more cuts and easy baskets for the rest of the team, as the seventh year guard’s veteran court vision led to four assists on the night.
During the final stretch of the game, Rider faced a 15-point deficit, and the team was trying anything defensively to stop Quinnipiac. Once again, the passing lanes closed for Lewis, so he went right back to the basket.
“Savion Lewis is really good,” Rider head coach Kevin Baggett said. “We recruited him out of high school.”
Lewis finished the night with 14 points, just one point away from tying his season high.
Khaden Bennett
For Bennett, it was the three ball that propelled his offensive game. The Grand Prairie, Texas native splashed three triples, continuing a season of improvement in nearly every facet of his game.
But this wasn’t always the case. In limited action during his freshman year, something just wasn’t right with his shots beyond-the-arc, Bennett shot just 1-19 (5.3%) from three point range.
This year has been a complete 180.
Bennett made 34.6% of his shots from behind-the-arc this season, a near 30% increase that propelled his scoring this year (10.4 PPG) to another level when compared to last year (1.4 PPG).
So for the sophomore guard, it may have just not been his time to shine yet. Bennett played a total of 111 minutes during his freshman campaign. He attributes practice and repetition as some of the reasons his shooting from downtown has seen a much needed improvement.
“(My teammates) see me putting in the work every day,” Bennett said. “Them just having the confidence in me all year no matter what, and believing in me and telling me to shoot the ball is what I needed tonight.”
“Tough as nails” as head coach Tom Pecora describes him, Bennett had one of his best shooting performances on the court and it was in a playoff setting, helping to guide his team to a semifinals berth.
The Bobcats will need their guards to continue to play at a high level if they want to advance further in the MAAC tournament.
Quinnipiac will have a day off and will return March 14 against the winner of No. 4 Iona and No. 5 Manhattan. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
