Quinnipiac kicks off MAAC play with physical win at Rider

Paul Otieno (33) defends Rider as Quinnipiac defeated Broncs in MAAC opener. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)

By Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports)

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. — The play was drawn up for Amarri Monroe. 

The junior forward came out of the huddle—his Quinnipiac Bobcats up by a slim two points—and bounced from the elbow to the wing. With two Rider Broncs in his face, Monroe drilled it.

It was the exclamation point in a physical 72-67 win in the Bobcats’ MAAC opener Friday night, snapping a three-game skid.

“As soon as it left my hand, it felt so good,” Monroe said. “Honestly, I didn’t even see it because I fell. So I just heard the roars. It felt great, I’m in a shooting slump right now, so it just felt good seeing the ball go in.”

It was a coming out party for Monroe, as much as the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year can truly have. After self-proclaiming that he started the season shooting the ball poorly, Monroe found his groove (20 points, 13 rebounds, a season-high) en route to his first double-double of the season.

Tack on a couple of helpers and some of his patented steals, and he had one of his best overall games in two seasons as a Bobcat.

“He’s like a big brother to me and he answers all my questions,” freshman forward Grant Randall said. “He’s a big leader on the court too. He helps me a lot, even when I don’t feel right.”

Randall also had himself a stellar Friday night, as the freshman scored five points and added four rebounds in his MAAC debut. It was crunch time when he shined, getting the nod to play valuable minutes down the stretch, especially with the injuries the Bobcats are faced with.

“I didn’t expect to play that much, but honestly, I’ve progressed and I’ve been doing my stuff that I need to,” Randall—who played a season-high 27 minutes—said. “The way the coaches believe in me is just a blessing.”

On that injury front, Quinnipiac is banged up. Graduate student point guard Savion Lewis missed his third-straight game with what had previously been described as a “lower-body” injury. Along with Lewis, senior forward Alexis Reyes—who’s been dealing with a lingering back issue—also sat in Quinnipiac’s conference opener. Freshman forward Spence Wewe also didn’t suit up tonight.

“(Lewis) is day-to-day,” Quinnipiac head coach Tom Pecora said. “He was here today, he was moving a little bit, tomorrow we’ll try to get him doing a bit more. The big debate now is going to be, is it worth playing him Sunday? We’ll know he’s 100 percent for Holy Cross, so we’ll see.”

In the stead of Lewis and Reyes, the Bobcats got major boosts from senior guard Doug Young, who scored 10 points off the bench, and junior guard Ryan Mabrey. Sporting a face mask for the first time, the latter led the team with six assists and took more of a ball handler role.

The depth, an issue in years past for the Bobcats, shined bright on Friday. Randall, Young and graduate student forward Richie Springs all came in off the bench. While the injuries aren’t ideal to kick off the conference schedule, it helps that the rest of Quinnipiac’s roster is stepping up. 

“If we don’t win this game, we’re still getting great minutes for these young guys, and that’s going to help us in February and March,” Pecora said. “That’s the way you kind of look at this.”

Pecora said postgame that the things that matter are one-game winning streaks. It didn’t matter that the Bobcats had lost three in a row and were banged up. The one thing that they hoped for today—a win —they got. 

“We’re tired, but we just dug down in practice,” Monroe said. “It showed today because we got a great win against a good team.”