Quinnipiac University
Manhattan
QU Men's Basketball Handles Manhattan on National Television, 73-59
1/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Photos, Video, Postgame Comments & More of QU vs. Manhattan
HAMDEN, Conn. – The Quinnipiac men's basketball team earned its third straight win on Friday night, defeating the defending MAAC champs Manhattan College, 73-59, before an energetic crowd of 3,038 at the TD Bank Sports Center. Courtesy of the MAAC, the game was televised nationally on ESPNU with Doug Sherman and Malcolm Huckaby on the call.
Now winners in five of its last six games, Quinnipiac climbed back to .500 in league play moving to 5-5 on the year. It was also the Bobcats' 11th win of the season while improving to 5-3 in the month of January.
Many college basketball teams will go as far as their senior class will take them, something that could bode well for Quinnipiac down the stretch. The Bobcats' senior class scored 67 percent of the team's points against the Jaspers, a statistic that has been fairly consistent over the past few weeks.
Zaid Hearst (Bethesda, Md.) led the charge, posting yet another 20 point game – accomplishing the feat for the seventh time in his last 10 games. He finished with 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting while sinking 9-of-12 from the charity stripe. Hearst bumped his season scoring average to 20.1 per game, one of 18 players in the nation averaging 20.0 points per contest.
Equally as impressive was his fellow classmate Ousmane Drame (Boston, Mass.), who corralled his sixth straight double-double with 12 points and a season high 19 rebounds. He was an efficient 5-of-10 from the floor, filling the stat sheet with four blocks, two assists and two steals. Entering the game, Drame was already among the national leaders in rebounding, blocked shots and double-doubles. Friday night was the 14th time posting at least 10 points and 10 rebounds for Drame, bumping him into a tie for first nationally with Stony Brook's Jameel Warney and Evansville's Egidijus Mockevicius.
Credit Quinnipiac's guard play in the victory, a group that handled Manhattan's fierce pressure very well throughout much of the game.
Quinnipiac closed the first half on a 9-1 run to gain some separation between the tristate foes before the break. Hearst had nine points during the run and a half-high of nine points to lead the Bobcats. Quinnipiac held Manhattan to 22.9 percent shooting and carried a 32-22 advantage into the break.
The Jaspers' pressure finally got to Quinnipiac early on in the second half with Manhattan outscoring the hosts, 19-9, through 11 minutes of play. With the score tied at 41-41, Quinnipiac settled in and fed off the crowd's energy to pull away down the stretch.
Quinnipiac scored the next seven points, capped off by an emphatic put-back dunk from Drame drawing a large roar from the student section. Quinnipiac's lead blossomed to 14 points when Evan Conti (Bayside, N.Y.) brought the crowd to its feet again with a deep three. The nation's fourth best free-throw shooting team continued the trend and coasted to a double-digit win in Hamden.
Conti, Kasim Chandler (Newark, N.J.) and Ayron Hutton (Virginia Beach, Va.) paced the guard position with four assists each. Conti finished with 11 points, Chandler added six points, all from the free-throw line (6-7), and Hutton had five points.
Chaise Daniels (Meriden, Conn.) complemented Drame with a career high 11 points, three rebounds and three blocks. Justin Harris (Paterson, N.J.) added a big three-point play and four rebounds.
Quinnipiac held Manhattan to 33.3 percent shooting and edged the Jaspers on the glass, 43-39. The Bobcats also gained a significant advantage from the free-throw line, going 24-of-30 (80 percent) to MC's 11-of-19 (57.9 percent).
Quinnipiac enjoys a few days off for some rest until heading north to upstate New York next weekend. The Bobcats take on Canisius on Friday, Jan. 30 at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo (7 p.m.) before facing Niagara on Sunday, Feb. 1 at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston (2 p.m.).
Fans interested in purchasing tickets for the 2014-15 campaign can call the QU Ticket Office at 203-582-3905, visit the official website of Quinnipiac athletics, www.QuinnipiacBobcats.com or make a trip to the TD Bank Sports Center Ticket Office.
Quinnipiac's 'Go For 3' package is still available throughout the remainder of the 2014-15 season. The package allows fans to purchase three men's basketball tickets at a special discounted rate. The 'Go For 3' bundle is $30 for adults and $12 for children and senior citizens.
Student-athletes, parents and fans can download the QU Athletics schedules to your laptop and mobile devices for free by clicking in the iCalendar link at the bottom of each sport's homepage or the master schedule page. Please follow Quinnipiac Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@QUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates.
