HAMDEN — Powered by a well balanced scoring attack with six players scoring nine or more, the Quinnipiac University men’s basketball team dominated at home on Thursday night, beating the Canisius Golden Griffins 75-60.
Both sides exchanged blows in the first minutes of the game, with Canisius senior forward King Ijeoma hitting a three to answer senior forward Amarri Monroe’s triple on the possession prior. Sophomore guard Jaden Zimmerman and sophomore forward Grant Randall hit threes of their own in succession with Monroe, as the Bobcats found the early lead.
“You just can’t fall in love with it,” said head coach Tom Pecora postgame about the quick start beyond the arc. “I don’t want them to fear it when they’re open, but you can’t live and die with it.”
The Bobcats finished 10-of-27 from three.
Ijeoma stayed busy in the early going with a vicious jam to cut Quinnipiac’s lead in half and nearly put a Bobcat on a poster, settling instead for foul shots. With his two makes at the line, Ijeoma had six points in a game for just the second time this season within the first four minutes.
Monroe and senior guard Asim Jones brought the Bobcat offense back to life with buckets on back-to-back possessions. Randall matched Ijeoma’s six points mere minutes later with his second early deep ball, and then bested it with a third from beyond the arc just two possessions later.
Randall’s third triple would be the last made shot from the field for nearly three minutes before junior forward Bryan Ndjonga responded with a triple of his own for the Golden Griffins. First-year guard Tai Turnage further grew the list of Bobcat threes in the first half with a deep shot to bring the lead back to nine just over 12 minutes into the first half.
“I thought Tai was really really good tonight,” Pecora said, commending the rising star. “Controlling the game, picking and choosing his times to keep people honest, and making shots. He competes.”
A Jones mid-range jumper a minute later pushed the lead even further, reaching double digits for the first time. The make was complemented by a deep three from freshman guard Samson Reilly shortly afterward. This also helped extend the largest Bobcat scoring run of the first half to 11-3 over five minutes.
Zimmerman and graduate student guard Max Jusianiec exchanged blows from deep, with Jusianiec connecting on a three from near the logo. Fouls started to add up for each team as Canisius, who had committed the most all through the half, went into the bonus with two minutes remaining. Turnage and Zimmerman were the primary beneficiaries of late foul shots, with Turnage going two-for-two in his visit to the line.
Freshman forward Keith McKnight joined the party late in the half with a nasty alley-oop over a Golden Griffin. With an increased sense of urgency, sophomore forward Evan Van Der Ploss nailed a three on the other end to bring some momentum back toward Canisius. With that, Quinnipiac carried a 10-point lead into the half.
The Golden Griffins entered the second half with a far more physical and aggressive style. Zimmerman was denied at the rim twice, and freshman guard Chris Kumu drew contact, resulting in a made free throw in the first minute.
Ndjonga also added to the scoreboard with a two handed jam, but was quickly countered by a Jones threeball. Kumu’s fourth foul just 25 minutes in sent McKnight back to the line to add to a now swelled 15-point Quinnipiac lead.
Zimmerman tallied a brilliant spinning layup stemming from a Golden Griffin miss in the paint, further building a 10-3 scoring run over the first five minutes of the second half.
After two long reviews, both teams seemed slightly slower during a roughly three minute scoring drought. However, Monroe once more brought a spark to the Quinnipiac offense with a terrific layup, extending the lead to a then game-high of 18.
Following a McKnight layup on the next Bobcat possession, Zimmerman made a return trip to the charity stripe, making both shots. Two more McKnight free throws two minutes later expanded the Bobcat run to 18-3 through the first 10 minutes and change, with the Golden Griffins only made shot from the field in the half to that point being a dunk.
Ndjonga hit Canisius’ second from the field in the ensuing possession in the form of his team-high 14th point and second three. Once more, Randall answered with a deep shot of his own, cancelling out the momentum boost.
Randall, who finished with 14 points and a team high nine rebounds, said postgame, “I was just able to knock down shots because my teammates trust me with the ball.”
Ndjonga again drained a deep three from the wing, which was followed up by a Turnage mid-range. Kumu also added a bucket before two Ndjonga foul shots as the Golden Griffins tried to salvage any type of momentum late.
Redshirt first-year Braylan Ritvo made the most of his late minutes as his layup set a new game high 25-point lead for Quinnipiac. First-year forward Brendan Oliver connected on a deep three to add his name to the stat sheet as well.
Sophomore guard Nate Guerengomba followed suit with late foul shots, marking the ninth different Bobcat to score on the night. Of those nine, six players recorded at least nine points with four breaking into double figures.
Sophomore guard Trevor Augustine ended the night on a high note for the Golden Griffins, banking in a three in the dying seconds. However, Quinnipiac cruised to victory with a commanding final score of 75-60.
“This is a big morale booster,” said Randall postgame. “We’ve been losing a lot of games that we shouldn’t be losing. We just have to keep that 1-0 mindset.”
Quinnipiac returns to action against the Niagara Purple Eagles on Saturday, Feb 7. Tip-off from Hamden is scheduled for 2 p.m.
