By Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports)
HAMDEN, Conn. — It all started because of a three-point celebration from Sacred Heart junior guard Griffin Barrouk.
After drilling a triple in the face of Quinnipiac junior guard Amarri Monroe, he stuck both hands in front of his face to celebrate the bucket. Monroe—who had just two points at the time—just nodded and smiled.
“I’m not big on talking trash,” Monroe said. “I just let my game show what I can do, and I think I did that.”
The Newburgh, New York, native did more than just that in Sunday afternoon’s 83-73 win over the Pioneers. Monroe scored 17 points after Barrouk’s celebration, highlighted by a buzzer-beating jumper to close the half. He also stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of five rebounds, four assists and eight steals, the latter having tied a Quinnipiac single-game record.
“I actually didn’t even know I had eight steals until after the game, and I didn’t know it was the program record until I walked over here,” Monroe said. “Shoot, I wish I got one more. It’s a blessing.”
He was the first Bobcat to record eight takeaways in a single game since Jeremy Bishop nabbed eight against Hofstra on December 1, 2002, and fourth in Division I program history to record at least seven.
“Amarri was a monster, scoring points, rebounding, having eight steals ties a school record in one game,” head coach Tom Pecora said. “The two games he’s played back-to-back have been exceptional, and that’s what players of the year do.”
For Monroe, he’s beginning to find his groove after not shooting the ball up to his standards to start the season. He admitted he still isn’t playing his best basketball, but he’s getting there. He also wouldn’t classify himself as a trash talker, though he did get into some spirited moments with the Pioneers’ bench during the first half.
“My coaches hate it, but I let them know that’s what gets me fired up,” Monroe said. “I’m not even talking back to him (at the free throw line), I’m just talking to myself, ‘I love it, I love it,’ because I love that. It’s college basketball, there’s nothing greater than college basketball and just that competitive spirit and that (fire).”
The one player to top Monroe in the scoring department was sophomore guard Khaden Bennett, who dropped a career-high 23 points in his fourth straight game in the starting lineup.
“Just having the opportunity, staying ready,” Bennett said. “Obviously Savion (Lewis) came back. It’s easy playing with someone who has seven assists.”
Lewis, who had missed the previous three games with a lower-body injury, returned to the floor today as the primary ball handler. Though the seventh-year guard was scoreless in the winning effort, Pecora made note on how having his starting point guard back helped spread the floor.
“Obviously, (he’s) not 100 percent, but seven assists, zero turnovers,” Pecora said. “I knew this would be a tough game. He didn’t play great, but he still had an impact on the game when we needed him to.”
The injured Bobcats—Lewis and senior forward Alexis Reyes both returned to the floor after missing time in previous games—have begun to get healthy, right at the time when they needed to. With a long break before Quinnipiac welcomes in Holy Cross, the winners of two straight MAAC games to open conference play will be ready to continue to string wins.
“We’re all about one-game winning streaks, it’s a long season,” Monroe said. “We don’t dwell on the last game and it shows. Swept the weekend, a long week to get treatment, have a great practice and get ready for the next game.”
And maybe Monroe—Quinnipiac’s newest record holder—can get that elusive ninth steal the next time he suits up.
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