Five Score In Double Figures, But QU Men's Basketball Falls To Columbia

Monday, November 21

HAMDEN, CT

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

0-2

Columbia University

2-1

Columbia

Quinnipiac

Five Score In Double Figures, But QU Men's Basketball Falls To Columbia

11/21/2016 9:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Conn. - Freshman guard Mikey Dixon (New Castle, Del.) had 17 points to lead five players in double figures, but it wasn't enough to overcome an 18-point halftime deficit as the Quinnipiac men's basketball team dropped an 86-78 decision to Columbia on Monday evening at the TD Bank Sports Center.

With the loss, the Bobcats fall to 0-2 on the year after dropping its home opener to Vermont last week, while Columbia improves to 2-1 with the win.

Quinnipiac placed five players in double figures for the first time since an overtime loss to Maine last season on Dec. 29. Junior forward Chaise Daniels (Meriden, Conn.) had 14 points, his ninth straight game with 10 or more points dating back to last season. Sophomore forward Abdulai Bundu (Upper Marlboro, Md.) had 13 points and nine rebounds, junior guard Reggie Oliver (Apopka, Fla.) had 12 and senior guard Daniel Harris (Tampa, Fla.) had 11.

Columbia was led by junior guard Nate Hickman with 23 points, while senior forward Luke Petrasek had 18 points and 14 rebounds. Columbia shot 61.3 percent in the first half on its way to a 48-30 lead at the break, before Quinnipiac improved its defense after the half by holding the Lions to 10-25 shooting (40 percent).

Quinnipiac held a 23-19 lead with 9:18 left in the first half after a Dixon jumper, but Columbia finished out the half with a 29-7 run. After a layup from freshman guard Peter Kiss (New York, N.Y.) gave the Bobcats a 25-23 lead, the Lions used a 15-1 run to take control, capped off by seven straight points from Petrasek.

The Bobcats played much better in the second half, and got the lead down to single digits at 58-49 on a Bundu foul shot with 12:36 still left to play. Columbia restored the double-digit lead on its next possession on a Lukas Meisner dunk and the lead stayed between 10-15 until two Bundu foul shots made the score 72-63 with 3:35 left. A Dixon three-pointer cut it ti 74-66 with 3:07 to go, and Oliver had a three-point attempt that would have cut it to five, but his shot missed and Petrasek hit a dagger three at the other end with 2:03 to go to make it a 77-66 lead.

Quinnipiac had one last flurry as Harris had a steal and fed Dixon for a three-point play to cut the Columbia lead to 77-70 with 1:32 to go, but Jeff Coby hit two foul shots for Columbia and the Bobcats turned it over on their next possession.

Coby finished with 12 points and Mike Smith had 13 for Columbia, which had four players in double figures to add to the five for the Bobcats. Quinnipiac had 22 offensive rebounds on the day, led by six from Bundu, and it held a narrow 44-42 edge on the boards.

Quinnipiac is back in action on Thanksgiving Thursday, when it takes on nationally ranked Gonzaga in the opening round of the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN3, and the Bobcats will then play either Florida or Seton Hall on Friday, and close out the tournament on Sunday against one of the four teams in the other half of the difficult bracket (Stanford, Iowa State, Miami (Fla.), Indiana State).