By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)
HAMDEN, Conn. — Amarri Monroe walked into the press room, something he does after nearly every Quinnipiac home game, but this time, he was holding a piece of the M&T Bank Arena net in his right hand.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this yet,” Monroe chuckled when asked what he’d do with his new souvenir. “Maybe I’ll give it to my mom.”
Quinnipiac’s magic number to clinch an outright regular season title was two coming into Thursday’s clash with Mount St. Mary’s. The only way the Bobcats could clinch that before the weekend was with a win over the Mountaineers and a Marist loss at home against Merrimack. With about two minutes remaining in Hamden, Merrimack’s 22-point victory over the Red Foxes went final. All Quinnipiac had to do was hold on for the win.
And hold on, the Bobcats did.
Behind 22 points and 10 rebounds from Amarri Monroe, and 20 off the bench from Khaden Bennett, Quinnipiac defeated Mount St. Mary’s, 79-70, to clinch the 2024-25 MAAC regular season championship.
Coming into the year, the Bobcats were picked first by the coaches to repeat as MAAC regular season champions. It’s one thing to be predicted to pull off a big accomplishment. It’s another to actually finish the job, which Tom Pecora’s bunch did Thursday.
“We work hard and are super proud of each and everyone on the team, from walk-ons to trainers,” Monroe said. “That’s why I love this place so much. We’re a big family.”
As Pecora often notes, it was an up-and-down non-conference run for the Bobcats. Plagued by injuries and inconsistent play overall, Quinnipiac finished 4-7 and brought some doubt upon itself heading into league play. All doubt is out the window now, as the team has won 15 of 19 in the MAAC and will once again be the team to beat in Atlantic City.
“Over time, you appreciate things more,” Pecora said. “Basketball season is a marathon compared to other sports. I appreciate all the hard work my assistants do and my players do for that long of a time.”
On a night of celebration for the entire team, Paul Otieno hit a notable benchmark in his scoring career. The senior big man notched his 1,000th career point with a free throw in the second half and finished with 16 points, along with a season-high tying five blocks.
“I’m so proud of him, he’s put great work in over the past three years,” Savion Lewis said. “He worked so hard for that.”
After the game, Quinnipiac did something it wasn’t able to do last season: Cut down the nets. In their final home game in 2023-24, the Bobcats only clinched a share of the MAAC regular season title before formally clinching it on the road in the season finale against Saint Peter’s. This time around, clinching at home, they were able to get a souvenir.
“Obviously, the job is not finished yet,” Lewis said. “We have the main goal of winning the whole thing, but it’s definitely a blessing.”
“I’ve never done this before,” Monroe said. “It’s a blessing and it caught me off guard when we did it. It was awesome to be on that ladder, but we know we’re not finished.”
Each Bobcat took turns cutting down the net, starting with senior walk-on Quinn Guth. Pecora was the last one to go, cutting down what was remaining and putting it around his neck in celebration.
“One net down, one to go,” the coach said. “We learned how to do it today, hopefully.”
Even with the celebration tonight and the fact that the Bobcats technically won’t be playing for anything on Saturday on the road against Fairfield, Pecora isn’t going to have his team going through the motions against its in-state foe.
“I don’t really think we’ve hit our stride yet,” Pecora said. “The best game we played all year was down at (Mount St. Mary’s) and we’ve been winning ugly for the past three weeks, just finding a way.”
The Bobcats now know when they’ll play their first game in Atlantic City. After Saturday’s game in Fairfield, Quinnipiac will open up its MAAC tournament run at 6 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of the 8/9 game.
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