QU Men's Basketball Rallies Come Up Short In Loss To MAAC-Leading Monmouth

Thursday, January 28

Hamden, CT

7:30 PM

Quinnipiac University

5-13, 2-7MAAC

Monmouth University

16-5, 8-2MAAC

Monmouth

Quinnipiac

QU Men's Basketball Rallies Come Up Short In Loss To MAAC-Leading Monmouth

1/28/2016 10:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Conn. - The Quinnipiac men's basketball team battled back from a pair of double-digit deficits, but Monmouth was able to hold off the Bobcats both times and eventually pulled away late to take a 66-51 win on Thursday evening at the TD Bank Sports Center.

With the win, the Hawks remain in first place in the MAAC at 8-2 and move to 16-5 overall while winning their first ever game at the TD Bank Sports Center, where they had been 0-9 previously. Quinnipiac falls to 5-13 overall and 2-7 in the MAAC with the loss.

Quinnipiac's second rally saw the Bobcats cut a 53-39 Monmouth lead with 6:48 left, down to 53-48 on a three-pointer from junior guard Daniel Harris (Tampa, Fla.) at the 3:54 mark. After Monmouth made one out of two at the line, Quinnipiac had the ball down six with a chance to move closer, but Je'Lon Hornbeak came up with a steal and fed Deon Jones for a fast break dunk with 2:27 left to push the lead to eight (56-48). After a stop, forward Chris Brady had an offensive rebound and putback to stretch the lead back to 10 with 1:42 to go, and the Hawks made their foul shots down the stretch to push the final margin to 66-51, their largest lead of the game.

The Bobcats also had to overcome some early struggles, falling behind 8-0 in the first five minutes and then 16-6 at the 11:23 mark of the first half. Despite only shooting 6-40 in the first stanza, the Bobcats pulled within 27-20 at the break, as sophomore guard Ayron Hutton (Virginia Beach, Va. - pictured) hit a three-pointer from the top of the key for the final points of the half. The momentum carried over, as Harris hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 27-24, and a three-pointer from senior guard James Ford, Jr. (Hopewell, Va.) brought the Bobcats within two at 29-27 with 17:33 left.

Monmouth answered the challenge, though. After sophomore forward Samuel Dingba (Yaounde, Cameroon) hit a jumper in the paint to make the score 31-29, Justin Robinson converted a three-point play for the Hawks and then followed with a fast break layup to quickly get the lead back to seven at 36-29. After a Zac Tillman layup, Robinson hit a three-pointer to push the lead to 41-29 and two foul shots from Collin Stewart capped off a 12-0 run that gave the Hawks a 43-29 advantage.

Quinnipiac stayed in the game on the offensive glass, where it pulled down a whopping 27 of its 57 boards. Sophomore forward Chaise Daniels (Meriden, Conn.) had six of his team-high 11 on the offensive end, while freshman forward Abdulai Bundu (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added four of his 10 boards on offense. The Bobcats came into the game leading in the nation in offensive rebounds at 17.6 per game and will see its lead extended after a season-high 27, while outrebounding Monmouth 57-43 overall.

Harris and Hutton each had 11 points to lead the way for Quinnipiac, while Robinson finished with a game-high 13 for Monmouth and Brady added 11.

Quinnipiac will be back in action on Saturday for another home game against Niagara, which tips off at 2 p.m.