Paul Otieno led Quinnipiac with 19 points and 12 rebounds as Bobcats defeated Canisius in MAAC tournament quarterfinals. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Quinnipiac became the first team to advance to the MAAC tournament semifinals, punching its ticket with a convincing 76-52 victory over Canisius Wednesday evening at Boardwalk Hall.
Senior forward Paul Otieno led the way with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while MAAC Player of the Year Matt Balanc added 17 for the regular season champion Bobcats, who improved to 24-8 overall.
Quinnipiac is currently riding a five-game winning streak as it sits just two wins shy of its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. For head coach Tom Pecora, his first year at the helm has been the ride of a lifetime.
Matt Balanc recorded 17 points for Quinnipiac Thursday, including this highlight reel-worthy dunk. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
“I worked for Coach (Rollie) Massimino,” Pecora said. “He’s one of my mentors, and he used to say it’s all about caring and sharing. If you’ve got a team that cares about each other and they’re willing to share their feelings, the basketball, their successes and their failures with each other, you’ve got a really good chance to be pretty good. This group has got that.”
Otieno was viewed by many as a snub from the yearly all-MAAC selections released last week. The senior forward averages 10.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game this season, while connecting at a near-63 percent clip from the field. While Otieno himself brushed away any thought of a chip on his shoulder, his teammates viewed Wednesday as a chance to prove the voters wrong.
“Paul’s a beast,” point guard Savion Lewis said of his teammate. “Whenever he’s dominating, it’s very contagious throughout the entire team. Whenever Paul kills, we’re all happy, and I was glad he was able to have a successful game.”
The Bobcats jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but Canisius battled back in a contested first half that included six lead changes. Although the Golden Griffins connected on five 3-pointers in the opening frame, the turning point came with 6:44 remaining until the intermission, when forward Frank Mitchell — a second team all-MAAC selection — picked up his second foul.
The absence of Canisius’ key paint presence allowed Otieno to quickly take over. With the Bobcats clinging to a 28-27 cushion late in the opening stanza, Otieno capped the half with six straight points, including two on a layup at the first half horn off a feed from Lewis.
“We needed to have him available every moment we could,” Canisius head coach Reggie Witherspoon said of Mitchell. “Today, we didn’t have the energy and effort we would normally have, and that’s disappointing.”
Lewis, a second team all-MAAC selection himself, would finish with 11 assists for his fourth double-digit effort of the season. The Long Island native ranks third in the nation with 7.2 helpers per game.
Otieno picked up the first Bobcat bucket after the intermission, and spurred what would become a 24-1 run as Quinnipiac seized full control by the midway point of the second half. Canisius would not score its first field goal of the period until Davon Ware hit a jumper with 12:21 remaining, and trailed by as many as 28.
Junior guard Tre Dinkins led Canisius with 17 points while playing all 40 minutes for the second night in a row. Dinkins led the way with 24 points in the Golden Griffins’ opening-round victory over Mount St. Mary’s Tuesday night, in which he also played every minute.
Quinnipiac returns to action Friday, when the Bobcats will face the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal clash between fourth-seeded Rider and No. 5 seed Saint Peter’s.
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