Quinnipiac University
Manhattan
QU Men's Basketball Edged by Manhattan, 69-65; Bobcats open MAAC Tournament against Marist on Thursday Night
3/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
- Box Score
- Season Stats
- MAAC Men's Basketball Standings
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Zaid Hearst (Bethesda, Md.) scored a game-high 22 points and Ousmane Drame (Boston, Mass.) flirted with a triple double, but the Quinnipiac men's basketball team was edged by Manhattan College, 69-65, on Sunday afternoon at Draddy Gymnasium in Riverdale.
On Friday, the Bobcats clinched the No. 6 seed of the MAAC Tournament, and today Quinnipiac learned that its road to the NCAA Tournament begins with No. 11 Marist on Thursday night. Marist dropped its regular season finale to Rider, helping finalize the field for next week. Quinnipiac and Marist have the nightcap of the first round, slated to tip-off at 9 p.m. at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y.
Shaping up to be a tremendous rivalry in the MAAC, Quinnipiac and Manhattan went down to the wire on Sunday, giving all in attendance an exciting basketball game to watch. Quinnipiac had a chance to tie on its final possession, but the shot was off the mark and left Manhattan victorious on its home court.
Hearst impressed again for the Bobcats, notching 20 points for the 13th time this season. He finished with 22 in the game, going 8-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from long range. He added nine rebounds, two assists and three free-throws (3-4) in the loss.
Fellow classmate Ousmane Drame nearly compiled a triple double, falling three blocks and one rebound shy of the feat. He finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, matching the program record with seven blocks, which has done three times before. Drame continued his torrid stretch from the free-throw line as well, connecting on all four of his attempts.
A back and forth affair, Manhattan led for the majority of the game, Quinnipiac though, knocking at the doorstep in the waning seconds. Trailing by seven, 66-59, with 2:14 remaining, Hearst and James Ford, Jr. (Hopewell, Va.) sandwiched back-to-back threes in with a Manhattan hoop to cut the deficit to just three with 1:14 remaining. Ford, Jr.'s trey made it a 68-65 game, Manhattan with the ball.
Needing a stop, Quinnipiac's defense forced an errant three which deflected out of bounds to give the visitors the ball and a chance to tie. After a series of timeouts, Quinnipiac had the ball with 10 seconds left, electing to put the ball in Evan Conti's (Bayside, N.Y.) hands. Double teamed and hounded, Conti's shot came up just short and landed into the hands of Shane Richards. Quinnipiac fouled, and Richards sank the backend to secure the victory.
A drastic contrast in styles ultimately went in favor of Manhattan College. The Jaspers' full court press forced 19 Quinnipiac turnovers, proving to be too much to overcome. Quinnipiac controlled the glass, 44-32, and went 16-of-20 from the free-throw line.
Justin Harris (Paterson, N.J.), who has grown accustomed to meeting his season averages every game, finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
Dimitri Floras (Nashua, N.H.) handled the rock for much of the game, doing well with Manhattan's pressure. He finished with seven points and career highs in both rebounds (9) and assists (4). Ford, Jr. also had seven and Samuel Dingba (Yaoundé, Cameroon) had one point on a free-throw.
Manhattan, who improved to 16-13 overall and 13-7 in league play, clinched the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the MAAC Tournament. Emmy Andujar finished with 18 points and Ashton Pankey netted 17 to lead the Jaspers. The winner of Quinnipiac and Marist will face the Jaspers on Saturday.
The 2015 MAAC Men's Basketball Championships go from March 5-9 with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Tickets for the championships are available online at www.ticketmaster.com.
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