Saint Peter's Closes Strong To Defeat QU Men's Basketball

Monday, February 8

Yanitelli Center - Jersey City, NJ

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

8-14, 5-8

Saint Peter's University

9-13, 7-6MAAC

Quinnipiac

Saint Peter's University

Saint Peter's Closes Strong To Defeat QU Men's Basketball

2/8/2016 9:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Saint Peter's men's basketball team ended with a 15-0 run over the final 3:16 to break open a tightly-contested game and earn a 68-52 win over Quinnipiac on Monday evening at the Yanitelli Center.

With the win, the Peacocks, who were led by 25 points from freshman guard Antwon Portley, improve to 9-13 overall and 7-6 in the MAAC, as they begin a late-season four-game homestand with a key conference win to prevent Quinnipiac from tying them in the standings. The Bobcats fall to 8-14 overall and 5-8 in the MAAC with the loss, while seeing their three-game win streak snapped.

Quinnipiac trailed by six at the half, but took its only second-half lead briefly at the 10:14 mark, when junior guard Daniel Harris (Tampa, Fla.) knocked down a three-pointer to make the score 40-39. Saint Peter's answered with the next six points to take a 45-40 lead, but a driving layup from senior guard Giovanni McLean (Bronx, N.Y.) closed the gap to 45-44 with 7:56 left.

The teams then traded baskets for four minutes, until a put back from Harris with 3:35 left made the score 53-52, but they would be the last points that the Bobcats would score. Quadir Welton hit two foul shots coming out of a media timeout to push the lead to three, and after a Quinnipiac turnover, Chazz Patterson hit a big three-pointer to make it a six point lead with 2:33 left. After that, the Peacocks shot 8-8 from the line down the stretch.

The Bobcats struggled on offense in the first half, shooting just 9-28 from the floor, but they scored on their final two possessions to close the Saint Peter's lead to 30-24 at the break. Senior forward Will Simonton (Vienna, Va.) scored on a 15-foot jumper to make the score 28-21, and after the Peacocks answered with a layup from Elias Desport, McLean hit a three-pointer in the corner off an offensive rebound to pull the Bobcats within six.

Sophomore forward Chaise Daniels (Meriden, Conn. - pictured) had 12 points to lead Quinnipiac, while McLean added 11 and Harris had 10. Patterson had 11 points and Weldon 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Peacocks. The Bobcats held a 42-34 edge on the boards, with 20 of them coming on the offensive end, as they will add to their national lead in offensive rebounds per game (17.5 per game coming in) after the defeat.

Quinnipiac will be back in action on Thursday for a road game at Manhattan at 8 p.m., which will be televised on ESPN3 as part of the MAAC Game of the Week package, before returning home to face Fairfield on Saturday at 2 p.m. in a game that will be televised on SNY. For ticket information for the Fairfield contest and all Quinnipiac home games, contact the TD Bank Sports Center box office at 203-582-3905 or visit QuinnipiacBobcats.com.