QU Men's Basketball Hosts Saint Peter's Friday (7 PM) for Senior Day Contest

Friday, February 23

Hamden, CT

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Saint Peter's University

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QU Men's Basketball Hosts Saint Peter's Friday (7 PM) for Senior Day Contest

2/22/2018 7:51:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Athletic Communications

Friday, Feb. 23, 2018 | 7:00 PM | TD Bank Sports Center, Hamden, Conn. | ESPN3
QUINNIPIAC BOBCATS (10-18, 7-9 MAAC) vs. SAINT PETER'S PEACOCKS (10-17, 4-12 MAAC)
Watch It Live: ESPN3
Follow Live Stats: QuinnipiacBobcats.com
Listen Live: AM 1220 WQUN
Updates: @QU_MBB
Tickets: 203-582-3905 or tickets@quinnipiac.edu

Game Promotion: Senior Day (ceremony is at 6:37 - with 20 minutes on pregame clock)
Game Notes: Quinnipiac | Saint Peter's

All-Time Series vs. Saint Peter's: SPU leads 8-3
Current Streak: SPU - 3 straight

HAMDEN, Conn. - The Quinnipiac men's basketball team plays its final home game of the 2017-18 season when it entertains Saint Peter's on Friday night for a 7 p.m. contest. The game will also be Senior Night for the program's four seniors - Alain Chigha, Chaise Daniels, Greg Tarca and Cameron Young - who will be honored pregame for their final contest at the TD Bank Sports Center.

LAST GAME (FAIRFIELD 102, QUINNIPIAC 98 - 2OT)
Freshman guard Rich Kelly scored 40 points, one shy of Quinnipiac's Division I record, but it wasn't quite enough as Fairfield was able to prevail in double overtime last Saturday. Kelly hit the tying three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to give him 30 points, then scored 10 more in the two overtime sessions. Trailing 99-98 in the final minute of the second overtime, the Bobcats earned a stop and had a chance to pick up the win, but Tyler Nelson (32) had a steal and layup to push the margin to three points, and the Stags used a deliberate foul to prevent the Bobcats from getting off a tying three-pointer. Cameron Young also tied his career high with 31 points in the losing cause for the Bobcats.

SENIOR CLASS
The final home game of the 2017-18 season will mark Senior Day for the four members of the Quinnipiac senior class, who will be playing at the TD Bank Sports Center for the final time: Alain Chigha, Chaise Daniels, Greg Tarca and Cameron Young. Chigha is the elder statesman of the program in his fifth season with the Bobcats, and his currently pursuing his MBA after earning his degree in sociology last spring. Daniels is two weeks removed from becoming the latest member of the Quinnipiac 1,000-point club when he reached the milestone on a Feb. 10 game at Canisius, the 39th Bobcat to do it (and 13th at the Division I level). Tarca is a former walk-on who was named a team co-captain in the fall and was awarded a full scholarship at the team's Secret Santa party in December. Young, meanwhile, is the team's leading scorer (18.9 ppg) and rebounder (6.3 rpg) this season after not scoring a single point all of last year. He has a chance to go from zero points as a junior to breaking the Division I school record for points in a season as a senior (currently 78 from tying with at least three games left).

RUNNING OUT OF FINGERNAILS
Quinnipiac has been in 12 games decided by two points or less or in double-overtime this year (going 7-5) after a one-point win over Manhattan and a double-overtime loss to Fairfield last week. The Bobcats have four one-point wins this year (over Dartmouth, Siena, Marist, and Manhattan) and three two-point wins (over UMass, Columbia, and Monmouth). Five of those seven wins for the Bobcats have come down to their opponents missing game-winning shots in the final two seconds (and one loss came when Colorado made a buzzer-beating three-pointer to win 70-69). Quinnipiac's average margin of victory in its 10 wins this season is just 2.8 points.

KELLY EARNS THIRD ROOKIE OF WEEK
Freshman guard Rich Kelly was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the third time this season after his historic 40-point explosion against Fairfield, shattering his previous career high of 22. He became only the second Quinnipiac player to score 40 points in a Division I game, falling one shy of Rob Monroe's school record of 41 points set against Longwood in 2004-05. The first time Kelly won the MAAC honor, he had 22 points and 10 assists against Columbia, the first 20-point, 10-assist game for a Bobcat since Monroe had 25 points and 12 assists against FDU.

KELLY ON THE CHARTS
Freshman guard Rich Kelly has dented Quinnipiac's Division I record books as a freshman in a variety of ways. His 40 points against Fairfield was the second-most in the Bobcats' Division I history, while his seven three-pointers in that game also ranks tied for second in Quinnipiac's Division I annals as well. On thee season charts, Kelly has 135 assists this year, ranking fifth a the Division I level at Quinnipiac, seven shy of fourth and 18 shy of third.

DANIELS JOINS 1000-POINT CLUB
Senior forward Chaise Daniels became the 39th player in Quinnipiac history to reach 1,000 career points and the 13th at the Division I level (since 1998-99). in a Feb. 10 game at Canisius. He reached the milestone after hitting a short jump hook with 2:30 left in the game, just before picking up his fifth foul. He now has 1014 points entering the Saint Peter's game, and also has 527 career rebounds and ranks third all-time at Quinnipiac in all divisions in blocks with 144, two shy of second place.

BOBCATS IN BATTLE FOR FIFTH
Quinnipiac is in a tight battle for an opening round bye in the MAAC Tournament entering the final weekend of the regular season. The Bobcats (7-9) are one game behind fifth-place Manhattan (8-8) with two games left, including Sunday at Manhattan. Fairfield is also in the mix at 8-9 with a home game left with Monmouth. In order to earn the fifth seed, Quinnipiac will need to beat Manhattan for a second time, and then avoid a two-way tie for fifth with Fairfield, which would win that tiebreaker.

YOUNG NO LONGER RESTLESS
Senior guard Cameron Young, a traditional three-man at 6-6, 205, was the odd man out in the Quinnipiac rotation last year when the Bobcats used a three-guard lineup, playing only eight minutes all season and not scoring a point. With a new roster and a new coaching staff this season, Young has seized his new chance, and currently is fourth in the MAAC in scoring (18.9 ppg) and second in conference games (21.1 ppg). He has scored 25 or more points eight times (see below), a feat that no other Bobcat had accomplished before Rich Kelly's 40-point effort against Fairfield. Young has also scored in double figures in each of the last 22 games, since being held to six in a loss to Maine on Nov. 26.

Cameron Young's 25-Point Games
31 vs. Fairfield       2/17/18
31 vs. Iona       2/2/18
27 vs. Manhattan   2/15/18
27 vs. Hartford   12/7/17
26 vs. Marist       1/10/18
26 vs. Siena       1/1/18
26 vs. Colorado   11/17/17
26 vs. Liberty       11/19/17

YOUNG ON THE CHARTS
With his 31 points in Saturday's game at Fairfield, senior guard Cameron Young has moved into fifth place on Quinnipiac's single-season point list at the Division I level with 529. Young has a chance at setting the record, especially if the Bobcats play more than one postseason game. The school mark of 607 points was set by DeMario Anderson in 2007-08, and Young could tie that mark by averaging 26 points over the next three games, or 19.5 points over four games. If he pulls it off, he will achieve a remarkable feat of going from zero points one season to a school record in points the next.

A GRADUATE JUNIOR?
Isaiah Washington (8.9 ppg) has started every game in the backcourt this season as a rare graduate transfer with junior eligibility. Washington graduated in three years from Penn State, including one redshirt season, and is pursuing his MBA while playing his final two years with the Bobcats. He had an 18-point effort at Niagara on Feb. 8, which tied his career high set on opening day at home against Dartmouth and had the game-winning basket in last Thursday's win over Manhattan with 6.7 seconds left. He has also had a big impact defensively, holding 20-point scorer Luwane Pipkins of UMass to 2-13 shooting, and MAAC-leading scorer Tyler Nelson to 4-18 shooting in the first meeting with Fairfield at NYCB Live.

THE ELDER STATESMAN
Fifth-year senior Alain Chigha graduated in May with a degree in sociology and is currently in grad school at Quinnipiac, joining graduate transfer Isaiah Washington (see above) in the MBA program. Chigha is a native of Cameroon, and came over to the United States to attend prep school in Florida at age 15 knowing only two words in English ("yes" and "no"). He is coming off a game where he gave the Bobcats a huge lift off the bench against Fairfield, tallying five points, eight rebounds and four steals after Quinnipiac got off to a sluggish start. He also had seven steals earlier this season against Maine, one shy of the Bobcats' single-game record set by Jeremy Bishop in 2001-02.

TWIN KILLINGS
Juniors Aaron Robinson and Andrew Robinson are the first twins in Quinnipiac men's basketball history. Andrew (5.9 ppg) has been out of action for the last six games with an injury, after scoring 14 off the bench in a win over Fairfield on Jan. 27, while Aaron (3.2 ppg) has continued to be a key member of the Bobcat reserve unit, making at least one three-pointer off the bench in each of his last 10 contests.

TARCA EARNS SCHOLARSHIP
Fourth-year walk-on senior Greg Tarca was named a team co-captain earlier this season, along with fifth-year senior Alain Chigha (see above). Tarca was able to drop the "walk-on" from his title on Saturday, Dec. 16, though, when the program surprised him with a full scholarship at the team's Secret Santa party.

A LONG ROAD TO HAMDEN
Few athletes have overcome such significant odds to reach the college level as junior forward Abdulai Bundu. Bundu was born in 1996 in Sierra Leone in the middle of a civil war, just before his parents won an immigration lottery to come to the United States. However, they could not secure visas for Abdulai and his brother and had to make the agonizing decision to leave them behind with family and try to bring them over later. Abdulai survived four refugee camps, before he was finally reunited with his parents in Maryland in 2003 at age 7. Bundu's hustle plays at both ends helped Quinnipiac to a win over Siena on Jan. 1, leaping out of bounds to save an offensive rebound that led to the winning points with 1:37 left and then coming from a weak side help position for the clinching block at the buzzer. His background story was featured by Sports Illustrated's Dan Greene in an on-line profile which was published on Jan. 31.

SERIES WITH SAINT PETER'S
The Peacocks have an 8-3 all-time lead in the series with the Bobcats, including three straight wins. The last Quinnipiac win was two years ago at the TD Bank Sports Center, when the Bobcats held on for a 56-55 win. Current senior Chaise Daniels had the game-saving block with 0.4 seconds left, and Saint Peter's Quadir Welton scored on a 12-footer off the ensuing inbounds pass. The basket initially counted, but was waved off after a video review.

DUNLEAVY ERA BEGINS WITH WIN
Quinnipiac's 78-77 win over Dartmouth on Nov. 11 in the season opener marked the debut of Head Coach Baker Dunleavy, who was hired in March. Dunleavy had a very successful career at Villanova as both a player and a coach under Jay Wright. During his playing days, the Wildcats were an Elite Eight team in 2005-06, behind future NBA guards Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry. During his four seasons as an associate head coach from 2013-17, Villanova compiled an overall record of 129-17, including a national title in 2016. and four straight BIG EAST regular season titles. His father Mike is a long time NBA coach who is currently the head coach at Tulane, making the Dunleavys one of two father-son coaching combinations in Division I, along with Tubby Smith (Memphis) and G.G. Smith (Loyola-Maryland).

A WINNING STAFF
All four coaches on the current Quinnipiac staff have been a part of helping prior schools to their winningest seasons in program history. Head Coach Baker Dunleavy was part of a 35-win season at Villanova (the national title year of 2015-16). Tom Pecora helped Hofstra to a Division I record 26 wins as an assistant in 2000-01 and matched it as a head coach in 2005-06, Shaun Morris was part of a Boston University staff that won a school-record 24 games in 2013-14, and Anthony Goins helped Yale set a new program high with 23 wins in 2015-16.

BOBCATS INK FOUR IN FALL SIGNING PERIOD
Quinnipiac earned four commitments from guards in the fall signing period. Tyree Pickron, a 6-2 guard from Philadelphia (Archbishop Wood HS), Tyrese Williams, a 6-1 guard from New York City (Cardinal Hayes HS), Matthew Balanc, a 6-3 guard out of Silver Spring, Maryland (Springbrook HS), and Savion Lewis, a 5-11 point guard out of Huntington Station, New York (Half Hollow Hills East HS) will represent the QU Class of 2022.

WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR
Quinnipiac has two transfers sitting out this year who are expected to fill big roles over the next three seasons. Big man Kevin Marfo (George Washington) and wing Travis Atson (Tulsa) will sit out this season per NCAA regulations. Martin is projected to step into the role Chaise Daniels will leave vacated after graduation, while Atson will help fill the void left open by senior wings Cameron Young and Alain Chigha. In addition, freshman Nathan Davis is taking a redshirt season after missing all of preseason practice while recovering from an injury suffered in high school, and will give the Bobcats seven new scholarship players next season, including the four fall signings (see above).

NEXT UP
The Bobcats close out the regular season with a 6 p.m. game at Manhattan on Sunday night, and will then head to Albany for the MAAC Tournament, which begins on Thursday, March 1.