Bobcats protect the bank for first win of the season

Bobcats protect the bank for first win of the season

Courtesy: quinnipiacbobcats.com

By Gilbert A. Celaya, QBSN Staff Writer

The Quinnipiac Bobcats (1-1) extended their all-time lead over the Yale Bulldogs to 4-0 by a final score of 68-62 in front of a stellar crowd to protect the TD Bank Sports Center on Tuesday night.  The victory over Yale is Quinnipiac’s first of the season.

Bobcats head coach Tom Moore was pleased with the way his team performed against the Bulldogs.

“I’m happy with the way we played.  We were very composed even though we have a young team,” said Moore of his team’s play.

In a game that was featured on the SportsNet New York (SNY), Bobcats senior guard James Johnson (Queens, N.Y.) was the standout player of the game draining three three-pointers that buried the Bulldog defense.  Playing 37 minutes, Johnson finished with 25 points and an astounding zero personal fouls.

The first half featured the two teams feeling each other out as if to see who would make the first move.  This made for a good free-throw battle between Yale and QU.  As both teams were trying to be cautious, they each kept sending each other to the free-throw line.

With a score of 32-31 at the half, free throws kept the Bobcats ahead of the Bulldogs throughout the first half of the game.  Yale’s leading scorer in the first half was senior forward/guard Reggie Willhite, who was 5-of-8 from the floor but 0-of-2 from the free-throw line, as Bulldog teammate sophomore center/forward Jeremiah Kreisberg was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line.

The Bobcats’ sophomore forward Ike Azotam (Boston, Mass.) and Johnson only had a pair each from the field, but were 5-of-6 and 5-of-7 respectively from the charity stripe.  Freshman forward Ousmane Drame (Boston, Mass.), sophomore forward Justin Harris (Paterson, N.J.) and freshmen forward Alex Jackson (Baltimore, Md.), also contributed with free throws to give Quinnipiac a 77.8% to 72.2% first half advantage over the Bulldogs.

The second half was a faster paced game as the Bulldogs and Bobcats pressed each other, causing sloppy play by both teams.  Quinnipiac struggled with penalties early in the second half with more than 15 minutes still left to play, but they were able to regain their composure and out play Yale.

Azotam accredited his teammates with being able to recognize when they need to count on each other when the Bobcats start to lose their composure.

“It was the same against Fairfield.  We have some young guys who start to complain.  But that’s the good thing about having leaders like James [Johnson], Jamee [Jackson], and Dave [Johnson],” Azotam said.  “They’re good leaders and they were able to keep our heads up.”

James Johnson hit his first three-pointer for the Bobcats with 15:35 left in the second half and his second three-pointer with just over 11 minutes left.  These threes gave Quinnipiac a four point lead both times as the game started to become a see-saw battle early in the second half despite the sloppy play from both sides.  Then, around the nine-minute mark, Johnson hit his third three-pointer to put the Bobcats up by an eight point lead as they began to distance themselves from the Bulldogs.

Willhite placed himself in early foul trouble with four personal fouls and was benched until late in the second half.  Willhite was not much of a factor after he re-entered the game.

James Johnson, who was supposed to be matched up with Willhite during the game, said that he doesn’t pay attention to who is supposed to guard him during games.

“It doesn’t matter who really guards me.  I just try to do what coach tells me when I’m out there.  I don’t like to get into the one-on-one match ups,” said Johnson.

Yale head coach James Jones was disappointed that Willhite had got himself into foul trouble.

“We have him in there for defensive purposes.  Having him out of the game really hurt us,” said James.

With just over 10 minutes left in the game, Jamee Jackson (Newark, N.J.) skied through the lane to grab a rebound off a Dave Johnson (Jackson, N.J.) three-point attempt for a thunder jam that got the Quinnipiac faithful on their feet.

After that, the Bobcats never relinquished the lead, as they were able to pretty much have their way against the Bulldogs.

Coach Moore, however, still recognizes that the team still has more to accomplish moving forward after the Yale game.

“It’s ugly for us because we’re still learning,” Moore said.

The Bobcats’ next game is Saturday Nov.19 at 2 p.m. against Navy at the TD Bank Sports Center.