QU Men's Basketball Gives No. 11 Gonzaga A Battle Before Falling 82-62

Thursday, November 24

Orlando, FL

6:30 PM

Quinnipiac University

Gonzaga University

QU Men's Basketball Gives No. 11 Gonzaga A Battle Before Falling 82-62

11/24/2016 9:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Quinnipiac men's basketball team played Gonzaga to a standstill for 15 minutes, but the No. 11 Bulldogs eventually pulled away for an 82-62 win over the Bobcats on Thursday afternoon at the AdvoCare Invitational, held at the HP Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

With the win, Gonzaga improves to 5-0 on the season as it looks to crack into the national top 10 after this weekend's tournament. Quinnipiac falls to 0-3 with the loss after facing its highest ranked opponent since playing No. 2 Connecticut in its first year in Division I (1998-99), UConn went on to win the national title that season (with current Quinnipiac head coach Tom Moore serving as an assistant).

Freshman guard Peter Kiss (New York, N.Y.) had a breakthrough performance with 18 points, scoring in a variety of ways against Gonzaga's defense. Senior guard Daniel Harris (New York, N.Y.) added 10 points, while Zach Collins and Johnathan Williams led a balanced Gonzaga offense with 13 apiece.

Quinnipiac played an outstanding first half, but a quick 9-0 Gonzaga run late in the half helped give the Bulldogs a 37-29 lead at the break. A running back shot from junior guard Reggie Oliver (Apopka, Fla.) brought the Bobcats within 26-25 with 5:07 to go before the break, but the Bulldogs scored the next nine points, capped off by two foul shots from Nigel Williams-Goss, to take a 35-25 lead with 2:54 left before the break. Kiss made two mid-range jumpers, including a tough runner over 7-1 Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski to bring the Bobcats within eight at the break.

The Bobcats held a lead midway through the first half as well. A three-pointer from senior forward Donovan Smith (Chicago, Ill.), the second three-pointer of his career, made the score 12-11 Gonzaga, and Oliver followed with a runner to make it 13-12 Quinnipiac with 12:52 left in the opening stanza.

Kiss opened the second half with a three-pointer to cut the lead down to five at 37-32, but Gonzaga answered with two straight threes to make the score 43-32. An Oliver bank shot cut the lead to 50-40 with 12:13 to go, but Gonzaga used back to back three-pointers from Jordan Matthews 29 seconds apart to surge ahead 56-40 and were able to prevent the Bobcats from another run.

Junior forward Chaise Daniels (Meriden, Conn.) put up an impressive stat line against a big Gonzaga team, finishing with nine points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, although his streak in double figures in scoring dating back to last year ended at nine games. Mathews and Josh Perkins each finished with 10 points for Gonzaga, which had four players in double figures.

Quinnipiac will be back in action tomorrow, when it faces the loser of this evening's contest between Seton Hall and Florida at 7:30 p.m., in a game which will be televised on ESPN2.