Quinnipiac downs Hofstra in Pecora’s reunion with his former program

Speedy Claxton (left) poses with Tom Pecora before Quinnipiac hosted Hofstra Sunday. Pecora recruited Claxton nearly three decades ago when he was Jay Wright’s assistant at Hofstra. (Photo by Stephen Gorchov/Hofstra Athletics)

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

HAMDEN, Conn. — In the coaching industry, working in one place for 16 years is a really long time. With how short leashes are nowadays in college basketball, you have to really know what you’re doing to stick in one spot for so long. The relationships that you build during times like that are ones that last a lifetime, ones that span generations. Tom Pecora can speak on that firsthand.

Pecora spent 16 years at Hofstra—seven as an assistant and nine as the head coach—and during his time there, recruited a kid out of Christ The King High School in Queens by the name of Speedy Claxton.

“(The) first time I met him, he was 15,” Pecora said of Claxton. “And we’ve been friends our entire lives.”

Fast forward 28 years from when Claxton suited up in a Pride uniform for the first time as a freshman, he found himself opposite Pecora on the sidelines as head coach of his alma mater Sunday, when Hofstra visited Quinnipiac to close out non-conference play for both teams.

“I don’t like to schedule friends,” Pecora said. “But they needed a game and we needed a game, so here we are.” 

On Sunday, Pecora guided the Bobcats to a 75-69 overtime win to earn bragging rights over Claxton in front of a great crowd in Hamden. A win like that for Quinnipiac is exactly what the doctor ordered after being 3-7 in non-conference play coming into the day.

“I feel like it’s all coming together,” Pecora said. “Going into conference play, this is very important for us.

Pecora and the staff probably won’t be showing much offensive film to their guys after this one, at least shooting wise. The Bobcats shot 29 percent as a team and 21 percent from three. You may be wondering, how can a team win when shooting like that?

Paul Otieno (33) tallied double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds in Quinnipiac’s win over Hofstra. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)

The answer? Rebounding. Quinnipiac was plus-22 on the glass against Hofstra and plus-20 on the offensive boards, creating second and third—and in one case, fourth—opportunities to convert. Paul Otieno had a season-high 14 rebounds to go with 17 points, while Amarri Monroe grabbed 11 boards along with his 20 points, their fifth and third double-doubles of the season, respectively. 

“I thought our frontcourt could have a huge presence and impact on the game,” Pecora said. “You know, we give out hard hats and gloves after every game, and the two hard hats went to Amarri and Paul.”

“The rebound margin was insane,” Monroe added. “That’s what won us the game.”

The Bobcats had a significant advantage inside, but the Pride had their number on the perimeter. Jean Aranguren, familiar to Quinnipiac fans from his time at Iona, had a game-high 23 points to go with eight rebounds and six assists, knocking down some clutch free throws to get the game to overtime in the first place.

“Everyone in the gym knows he’s driving right and you know what he does, he drives right,” Pecora said of Aranguren. “It’s amazing to see the difference in him this year from last.”

After Aranguren, Cruz Davis was the only other Hofstra player in double figures, with 14 points.

“Our whole game plan was around Cruz Davis,” Pecora said. “If Aranguren gets 20, that’s one thing, but we can’t let both of them go off.”

The Bobcat backcourt had an up-and-down game. Two of the guards left the game due to injury and didn’t play in overtime. Savion Lewis appeared to aggravate something in his lower body and, while he tried to give it a go after going to the training table, ultimately could not. Jaden Zimmerman took a hard fall after a fancy finish around the rim and landed on his back and was spotted wearing a device to soothe what Pecora called back spasms, and also did not play in overtime. In their absence, Khaden Bennett was the guy pegged with late-game free throw responsibilities, and he converted to help secure the win. Ryan Mabrey provided some valuable minutes despite not making a field goal, and Alexis Reyes had seven points and seven rebounds off the bench.

“I thought the minutes that Lex Reyes gave us today were tremendous,” Pecora said. 

Reyes drilled a clutch three to extend the Bobcat lead to five with 3:20 to play in regulation, but Aranguren went a perfect 4-for-4 at the line after that and the game ended up in overtime. In fact, the Pride went a perfect 17-for-17 at the stripe as a team.

Quinnipiac had a chance to walk it off with exactly one second remaining on a sideline out-of-bounds play, but Monroe couldn’t convert a layup inside. In overtime, Bennett found Otieno for a major basket to increase the lead to four, and it was all Bobcats from there after some free throws.

“Paul Otieno, if you look up warrior in the dictionary, he’s there,” Pecora said. “He just gives you everything and is a great leader. When he first got here, you knew he was a high-level athlete, but he understands when and where situations are to be aggressive.”

Quinnipiac picked up its best win of the season to close non-conference play, but that’s hardly the main story of the game.

“We wanted to win this one for Coach P,” Monroe said. “He coached (at Hofstra) and kinda built what they are today, so after that we addressed (to him) that, ‘that was for you.’”

Pecora was very emotional reminiscing on his relationship with Claxton and his family, getting choked up when talking about Claxton’s mother, who passed away.

“He made our careers after I recruited him,” Pecora said of his relationship with Claxton. “We went to two NCAA Tournaments and it changed all of our lives, so I’m very grateful for him.”

The Bobcats are going to Long Island next year to return the game with Hofstra and conclude the home-and-home series. This was one of just four home non-conference games for Pecora this year after playing a majority at home last season. 

“I needed to play as many home games last year as possible to get a contract from these guys,” Pecora joked toward Quinnipiac athletic director Greg Amodio. “This year, we’re paying the price a bit on the road, but we had a great crowd today. We probably had this many people in the building because the Pats, the Giants and the Jets all stink.”

The Bobcats are next in action on Friday in Jersey City against Saint Peter’s, looking to build off their 2-0 MAAC start from a few weeks ago. The Pride returns to the court Thursday when it hosts William & Mary to open CAA play.