Consistent effort for Quinnipiac pays off with come-from-behind win at Iona

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Quinnipiac may have won its most recent contest by 19 points Friday, but the manner in which the Bobcats finished their victory over Siena left something to be desired for Tom Pecora.

The veteran head coach lamented his team’s lack of a consistent effort, as Quinnipiac had led by as many as 31 points in the first half before conceding a late rally to the visiting Saints. Pecora’s main concern going into Sunday’s trip to Iona was whether or not the Bobcats could deliver a full 40-minute effort.

It may not have looked that way in the first half Sunday, but the preseason MAAC favorite never quit, and was rewarded with a road win as a result, with Quinnipiac’s persistence helping wipe out a 14-point deficit and earn a 63-62 decision over the Gaels.

“Look, they’ll tell you different, but I don’t freak out on them a ton,” Pecora said. “We try to keep our heads in the game, the way it’s played and the pace it’s played at. You’re gonna get back in games if you just stay composed, you know? The only way teams really totally get blown out of a jam is if you lose your composure and allow those double-digit, 10-point leads to become a 20-point lead. We didn’t do that. We stayed the course.”

“The big thing for us, at the half, we wanted to get it down to 10 and we got it to four. We have seven veterans out there, they’ve been through some battles and they don’t get rattled. That had a lot to do with it.”

The Bobcats (9-8, 5-1 MAAC) scored six of the game’s first eight points and coerced Iona head coach Tobin Anderson into a full line change less than two minutes into the contest as the Gaels’ starters had difficulty solving a 2-3 zone defense Pecora employed in the opening stages. Iona’s second unit turned the tables, though, uncorking a 20-3 run that had the visitors playing from behind for a majority of the day.

The early hole was not the only adversity the Bobcats had to battle through, as senior point guard Savion Lewis did not make the trip due to what Pecora termed a lower-body injury that surfaced Sunday morning. Lewis will be evaluated Monday, with no timetable on his return. In his stead, Khaden Bennett and Doug Young filled the void, the latter making his return to the rotation after not seeing the floor Friday. And after sitting him out against Siena, Pecora was convinced the junior college transfer would respond accordingly Sunday, which he did to the tune of 10 points off the bench, one of three double-digit Quinnipiac scorers.

“Doug always competes,” Pecora said. “It’s about decision making, it’s about all the little things, you know? He’s a senior, and I put a lot of pressure on our seniors to carry themselves like seniors…on the court, off the court and the way they practice every day. As hard as it is, you gotta love ’em all. I have three children and I love them all, but they’re different. You gotta be treated in different ways at times to get them on course.”

“The greatest motivator ever—I think Bob Knight said it years ago—is ass meets bench. And all of a sudden, you get their attention, and that’s why I knew after him not playing on Friday, he’d be locked in and he’ll do whatever we need him to do.”

Following a 12-3 close to the first half that produced a 37-33 margin at the intermission, Iona stormed out of the locker room with eight unanswered points to prompt Pecora to use a timeout. The Bobcats got right back to work, with the two-headed monster of Paul Otieno and Amarri Monroe setting the tone on both ends of the floor to produce a 15-2 run that swung the pendulum back the way of the visitors.

“My two tight ends here, they’re walking double-doubles,” Pecora said of Otieno and Monroe, who amassed 24 points and 18 rebounds combined. “Our guard play was interesting, at times it looked like dodgeball, but we just kept competing. It’s the greatest skill you could have, just keep coming out and competing every possession, and they did that.”

The two teams traded baskets for the next several minutes before Quinnipiac used one last outburst, a 10-4 stretch, to seize momentum for good behind Otieno, Monroe and freshman Jaden Zimmerman. Iona got to the precipice of stealing the win after Dejour Reaves rallied to pull the Gaels within one, and still had a chance to snatch the win in the final seconds after Otieno missed the front end of a 1-and-1. But Adam Njie’s runner at the buzzer cut through the air, and after taking their first league loss last Sunday at Marist, the Bobcats were able to rebound with a second straight win to keep pace near the top of the conference going into a crucial home tilt against MAAC co-leader Merrimack Thursday.

“The other term we use all the time is one-game winning streaks,” Pecora shared. “So we’ll take off tomorrow, get ourselves as healthy as we can, and go hard and get ready to play in a very competitive MAAC.”