Quinnipiac University
Canisius
QU Men's Basketball Falls to Canisius on Senior Day, 65-63
2/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
- Box Score
- Season Stats
- Quinnipiac vs. Canisius - Game Replay
- Quinnipiac Senior Day Video
- MAAC Men's Basketball Standings
HAMDEN, Conn. – The Quinnipiac University men's basketball team fell to Canisius on Saturday afternoon, as the Bobcats suffered a heartbreaking loss, 65-63, on Senior Day at the TD Bank Sports Center.
The loss was a big one, the Bobcats falling to 14-13 overall and 8-10 in MAAC play. The Golden Griffins clinched a first round bye in the conference tournament, improving to 15-12 overall and 10-8 in league play.
Quinnipiac was led by senior forward Ousmane Drame (Boston, Mass.) who finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. He went 7-for-13 from the field and 6-of-9 from the free-throw line. Evan Conti (Bayside, N.Y.) poured in 16 points, including four threes, while James Ford, Jr. (Hopewell, Va.) finished with 11 points and career highs in rebounds (8) and assists (4).
Quinnipiac seemed poised to escape with a victory, when Conti made a layup to put the home team in front, 59-51, with 4:06 remaining. Canisius had other ideas, using a 7-0 run to close the gap to just one, 59-58, with 2:38 left in regulation.
Drame cashed in on the other end for Quinnipiac, giving the Bobcats a three point advantage, 61-58, with 1:52 showing on the clock, but Jeremiah Williams answered with an old-fashion three-point play to tie the score. That was followed by an empty Bobcat possession, and a Jamal Reynolds layup to put the Griffs in front, 63-61, with about a minute left to play.
Quinnipiac got three cracks at the rim on its next possession with Ford, Jr. bailing the Bobcats out with an offensive rebound – then drawing a foul. He calmly sank both to tie the score, 63-63, setting the stage for Kassius Robertson in the waning seconds. Robertson let the clock wind down, took a few dribbles to his right, and buried a jump shot from the top of the key with 3.8 seconds left. Quinnipiac failed to get a shot off in the final seconds.
Robertson, who had 14 points in the game, registered 16 in the first meeting between the two teams.
Some of the statistics were characteristic of Quinnipiac basketball, while others were not. Quinnipiac shot 43.1 percent from the floor, 36.8 from long range and 80.0 percent from the charity stripe. However, Canisius played close to even with the Bobcats on the glass (36-34) and shot 51.7 percent in the second half. That followed a first half in which the team shot just 28.1 percent.
With Canisius clinching the No. 5 seed, Quinnipiac will have to win four games in five days to win the MAAC Championship.
ESPN has announced the two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball wildcard matchups for Friday, Feb. 27. Set to be telecast on ESPNU, Quinnipiac's game against Siena College will air live nationally at 6 p.m. in Hamden at the TD Bank Sports Center.
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.
The 2014-15 season culminates at the 2015 MAAC Men's Basketball Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York March 5-9. Tickets for the championships are available online at www.ticketmaster.com.
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.
