Quinnipiac proves mettle, heightens late-season surge in takedown of Saint Peter's

Cameron Young scored 26 points as Quinnipiac moved closer to share of regular season MAAC championship with win over Saint Peter's Friday. (Photo by Q30 Television)

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

JERSEY CITY, NJ -- Teams want to be at their best in March. 

If you are in a mid-major league such as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, there is the realization that it all comes down to three -- sometimes four -- days in March. 

Quinnipiac aspires to be playing at an optimum level in March. The Bobcats, though, did not wait for the calendar to flip to the third month of the year, hitting their stride in mid-February with victories over upper-echelon MAAC programs the likes of Iona, Rider, and Siena, and entering a second meeting Friday with Saint Peter's just a half-game behind the conference lead.

In a game of runs, the Bobcats built leads, only for Saint Peter's to cut into them. Down the stretch, Quinnipiac was able to get stops while burying three-pointers to open up an advantage as massive as 19 points before wrapping up a comfortable 77-60 victory that positioned second-year head coach Baker Dunleavy and his team for a potential share of the regular season MAAC championship, so long as it can handle business Sunday against Manhattan.

“It was not an easy game,” Dunleavy admitted as Quinnipiac (16-12, 11-6 MAAC) received 26 points from Cameron Young -- the conference's leading scorer -- in the winning effort. “They come at you defensively. We shot the ball well, but they did force us into 
turnovers.” The Bobcats committed 18 miscues, which the host Peacocks turned into 24 points, but righted the ship by connecting on 16 of 28 field goal attempts from long distance.

Quinnipiac has gone on a roll as of late, having won eight of its last eleven, but what have the Bobcats done to fuel such a productive spurt? Dunleavy insists it is not a technical alteration, no change in offense, defense or rotation. 

“We've been doing what we have all along,” he said. “We have two seniors -- Cameron Young and Abdulai Bundu -- in the starting lineup. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores. The way we're playing of late is due to their maturation. As the year has progressed, they've gained more confidence, and the results show.” 

The Quinnipiac mentor also pointed out a few of those games, including the victories over Rider and Siena that required overtime to seal the deal in each, were factors. 

“We got some lucky bounces of the ball,” he said, “but it was also a case of those younger players learning how to win those close games. That was huge.”

With one more game to play before the MAAC converges upon Albany to decide its NCAA Tournament representative, the Bobcats are assured of a first-round bye and no worse than the No. 4 seed, but the number next to Quinnipiac's name will not be the deciding factor.

“No matter where you're seeded, I think it comes down to who's best prepared, who can go out and execute their game plan to their best ability," said Dunleavy. “You'll have close games throughout, so it comes down to who'll be able to handle the pressure of a close game and make the right decision.”