Quinnipiac University
Monmouth
Drame Grabs 1,000th Rebound, Ford, Jr. Nets Career High, QU Men's Basketball Downs Monmouth, 72-52
2/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HAMDEN, Conn. – A night full of milestones and accolades, the Quinnipiac men's basketball team scored a comfortable home win on Thursday night, defeating Monmouth University, 72-52, at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden.
Ousmane Drame (Boston, Mass.) corralled his 1,000th career rebound, James Ford, Jr. (Hopewell, Va.) netted a career high 18 points and head coach Tom Moore collected his 140th career win all in the home triumph. Quinnipiac improved to 12-10 overall and 6-7 in league play while moving to 8-5 at the Bank this year.
Ford, Jr. led all scorers with 18 points, netting 13 of them in the first half alone. He finished 7-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-8 from long range – sparking the Bobcats with a trio of threes through the first five minutes of play.
Drame scored his nation-leading 16th double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds in 26 minutes of action. He hauled in his third rebound of the game in the first half which pushed him into an elite group of five other Bobcats all-time to grab 1,000 rebounds. It was also his 40th career double-double, standing just four behind Ike Azotam's record of 44. He added three blocks and two assists to his stat line.
It was a dream start for Quinnipiac, who answered Monmouth's opening basket with 11 straight points. Ford was the offensive catalyst, knocking down three straight threes leading Quinnipiac to a 23-10 advantage with 6:21 remaining in the first half – totaling 13 of the team's 23 points. Quinnipiac extended its lead to 16 points with 2:53 left and carried a 34-21 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
Monmouth made a push early on in the second half and cut its deficit to single-digits on three different occasions. The final one came at the 10:38 mark in the second half, when Austin Tilghman cut QU's lead to nine points after a pair of free-throws.
It was all Quinnipiac from that point forward, as Evan Conti (Bayside, N.Y.) connected on a three and Justin Harris (Paterson, N.J.) and Zaid Hearst (Bethesda, Md.) followed with back-to-back layups to put the Bobcats in front, 55-39, with 8:36 remaining. Quinnipiac took the air out of the ball and coasted its largest victory of the season.
After allowing Niagara to shoot nearly 48 percent from the floor, Quinnipiac bounced back with a tremendous defensive effort against Monmouth. The Bobcats held the Hawks to 33.3 percent shooting including just 3-of-14 from long range. The 52 points matched the lowest point total by an opponent with the other coming in the win over Oregon State back in December.
Joining Ford, Jr. and Drame in double figures was Conti, who was coming off a career high 26 points at Niagara. He finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Harris and Hearst each finished with nine points, combining for 13 rebounds in the game. Hearst remains just three points shy of 1,500 for his career.
Ayron Hutton (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Kasim Chandler (Newark, N.J.) each had five points and Dimitri Floras (Nashua, N.H.) capped off the scoring with a bucket in the second half.
Quinnipiac dominated the glass, 50-32, grabbing 50 rebounds in a game for the third time this year. The Bobcats mustered 16 on the offensive end for 13 second chance points.
Monmouth, who drops out of second place in the standings with the loss, was led by Deon Jones with 12 points. Justin Robinson had 11 points and a game high nine assists.
Quinnipiac is back in action over the weekend when the Bobcats play host to Niagara University. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8 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.
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.
