Dave Johnson nets career-high 19 points in rout of Red Flash

Dave Johnson nets 19 points in rout of Red Flash

By Kevin Noonan, QBSN Staff Writer

The Quinnipiac Bobcats shot the lights out at the TD Bank Sports Center Thursday Night as they crushed the St. Francis (Pa.) Red Flash 77-44.  With the win, the Bobcats improve to 9-8 in NEC play and 16-12 overall while the Red Flash drop to 5-12 in the NEC and 6-22 overall. 

Quinnipiac knocked down its first 12 shots of the second half to extend their 35-20 halftime lead to 62-31.

The Bobcats shot 58.6 percent from the floor compared to 38.3 percent for the Red Flash.

courtesy: quinnipiacbobcats.com

Head coach Tom Moore could not have asked for a better game from his squad.

“I am very happy we were pretty complete in all three phases of the game tonight,” Moore said.  “We were a much improved defensive team from the last time we played them.”

Junior Dave Johnson (Jackson, N.J.) led the Bobcats with a career high 19 points, along with five assists and three rebounds.  Sophomore Ike Azotam (Boston, Mass.) added 18 points and seven rebounds while freshman Zaid Hearst (Bethesda, Md.) scored 15 while grabbing eight boards.

Four of the five starters scored in double figures for Quinnipiac, the lone exception being senior James Johnson (Queens, N.Y.) who finished the game with five points and eight assists.

Moore had much praise for James Johnson after the game for his play on the floor.

“James Johnson was incredible in terms of his poise, his patience, and his unselfishness was off the charts,” Moore said.  “He didn’t really force anything and really let his four other teammates have their way offensively.”

Scott Eatherton paced the Red Flash with 16 points and six rebounds in 32 minutes of play.

Dave Johnson was feeling a lot more confident with his shot heading into the game, leading to his eight of 11 shooting.

 “I started making a few of them early and I just felt like I was going to have a good shooting day,” said Dave Johnson.

As the first half grew on, the lead for the Bobcats slowly extended itself.  The full-court press instituted by Moore is what initially started the frustration for St. Francis.

Quinnipiac started using it off of made baskets following the first media time out and the Red Flash were quickly irritated.  Junior Garvey Young (Washington, D.C.) finished with four steals on the night because of his tenacity on the press. 

Freshman Ousmane Drame (Boston, Mass.) got the Bobcats excited on a play in the first half where he dove under a table on press row in order to try and save a ball heading out of bounds. 

Quinnipiac opened up the second half on a 23-8 scoring run and did not stop continuing the lead for the remainder of the game.  The largest lead of the night was 38 points for the Bobcats when they led 75-37 with four minutes remaining.

Offense has been the focus the last few practices and has paid off the last few games.

“The last couple of games we’ve been finding each other and building chemistry on offense,” said Azotam.  “It’s all about being confident out there, knowing what shots to take.”

Azotam and Drame each had dunks in the second half that excited the crowd and really gave the Bobcats that much more of a boost.

The Bobcats cannot enjoy the victory for long, as preparations are still left to be made for archrival Robert Morris who comes into town for an 11 a.m. matchup on ESPNU. 

Each matchup tends to be a defensive battle, making Quinnipiac’s ability knock down buckets vital.

“I’m expecting to have to work very hard for every basket we get on Saturday,” said Moore.

Quinnipiac remains tied for fifth place in the Northeast Conference with CCSU and Monmouth but hold the tiebreaker over both teams heading into the final game of the regular season.