Quinnipiac falls to Saint Peter’s as Peacocks take share of MAAC lead

Jaden Zimmerman led Quinnipiac with 19 points, but Bobcats were unable to hold off Saint Peter’s Wednesday. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

HAMDEN, Conn. — Quinnipiac and Saint Peter’s both had different expectations coming into the season this year. The Bobcats were picked first in the MAAC preseason poll, the Peacocks 11th. On paper, Wednesday’s matchup was supposed to be just another game in a loaded conference schedule, perhaps one that would be overlooked as a mid-week clash in mid-January.

Instead, the two teams came in tied for second in the MAAC with 5-1 records through their first six conference games. The Bobcats are playing up to what was expected, but the Peacocks have completely exceeded where the poll expected them to be.

What’s even more surprising if you take the preseason poll into account is the result.

Saint Peter’s came into M&T Bank Arena and knocked off Quinnipiac, 74-70, after going from up 13 in the first half to down seven in the second half, just to come back by the time the buzzer sounded.

“They’re a scrappy and very physical team and we had to match their intensity," head coach Tom Pecora said. “And we didn’t.”

The offense for the Peacocks was clinical for the first few minutes of the game, allowing the visitors to jump to a double-digit lead in less than four minutes. On the flip side, the Bobcat offense struggled to get in any sort of rhythm early on. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that they woke up with seven points from Grant Randall and four from Keith McKnight to headline a positive stretch that pulled Quinnipiac within 20-17 at the 12-minute media timeout.

The Peacocks would continue to torch the nets, however. After that stoppage, they went on an 8-0 run to get the lead back to double digits before  Jaden Zimmerman iced the run for Quinnipiac with a three. The sophomore re-entered the starting lineup on Wednesday after making his return from injury Sunday, scoring 19 points.

“I talked to JZ after the game and told him that he’s an all-conference player,” Pecora said. “He can’t play the entire game without a rebound.”

The lead for Saint Peter’s peaked at 13 in the first half, at 36-23, but from that point, Quinnipiac responded with a 10-2 run over the final five minutes to make it a respectable 38-33 game at halftime. Samson Reilly knocked down a three in a spot appearance and Randall converted a three-point play through some tough contact to account for the mini 6-0 spurt to close the half.

Zimmerman picked up right where he left off after the intermission, and then some. In the first five minutes of the second half, he scored 10 points and carried the Bobcat offense to the point where Quinnipiac took its first lead of the game on a transition finish from Asim Jones.

Jones scored again on a wide open layup, and an added free throw from McKnight gave Quinnipiac a four-point lead at the midway point of the half, 55-51. 

“We’re at home and we’re up six with a little under seven to play, you’re a bucket or two away from breaking their back, and that’s what a mature team would do,” Pecora said. “We looked young tonight, not like a veteran ball club.”

Bryce Eaton would score a layup for Saint Peter’s to make it a one-possession game again, but Randall answered with a three to push the Bobcat lead to its largest point of the night, five, with 9:12 to play. That would be the last field goal for either side for over four minutes of action before Eaton buried a deep three that triggered a Bashir Mason timeout with the score 63-60 with 5:03 to play.

“We had a couple of opportunities to increase the lead and didn’t,” Pecora said. “Then we didn’t put the hand in the face of a great three-point shooter, then we fouled another three-point shooter.”

The Bobcats’ field goal drought would last over eight minutes before McKnight connected in the midst of what was a wild final 89 seconds of the game. It all started when Jones was called for a flagrant foul when Quinnipiac had possession down by four, giving Saint Peter’s two shots and the ball in an inexcusable spot and it delivered, doubling the lead to eight. Then, with it still being an eight-point game with 54 seconds to play, Amarri Monroe hit a pair of free throws and McKnight got a steal and finish to cut it to four with 41 seconds.

Brent Bland was called for a flagrant foul on the inbounds after that, setting Quinnipiac up in a beautiful spot with two shots and the ball down by four. McKnight split the technical free throws before Zimmerman was fouled and missed two free throws of his own. The Bobcats left three points at the line in a three-point game and couldn’t recover, falling 74-70.

“We shoot free throws every day and we’re just gonna have to shoot more,” Pecora said. “Jaden is usually a pretty good free throw shooter, but he had a rough night at the foul line, 2-for-7. That’s ballgame right there.”

The Bobcats missed nine free throws, five from Zimmerman, and had plenty of chances to put the game away and didn’t. Monroe had his second straight game with poor field goal percentages, shooting 3-for-16 and forcing some difficult shots.

“When you’re preseason player of the year, it has to be an every night thing,” Pecora said. “He’s got to realize the shots he’s taking aren’t great shots.”

With the loss, Quinnipiac falls to 5-2 in the MAAC while Saint Peter’s jumps to 6-1. The Bobcats will have a chance to regroup on Saturday when they take on MAAC co-leader Merrimack on the road in another matchup between two of the top teams in the conference.