Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Championship Sunday
It’s a matchup of teams from the MAAC on the college hardwood in the Empire State. The Quinnipiac Bobcats are on the road as they travel to face the Iona Gaels Sunday afternoon. Quinnipiac took down Canisius 87-82 at home in their previous game last Sunday, though they failed to cover the line as an 8.5-point favorite. Iona was dropped 70-53 on the road by Siena in their last game Friday night, failing to cover the line as a 7.5-point underdog. In the all-time series between the schools, the Gaels own a 12-7 advantage though it was the Bobcats earning an 81-58 home win in the first meeting this season on January 8.
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Quinnipiac took down Canisius at home in their previous game as they ran their win streak to six games last Sunday. The Bobcats improved to 15-5 overall on the year and stand tied for third in the conference with a 6-3 mark, leaving them even with Iona and 1.5 games behind Siena for the top spot. Against Canisius, Quinnipiac used a 12-2 run over the final 4:29 of the first half to turn a 30-29 edge into a 42-31 advantage. The Bobcats saw the Golden Griffins rally to lead 57-52 with 11:17 to play and the game was tight the rest of the way. Quinnipiac took the lead for good on an Ike Nweke layup with 3:19 remaining and managed to hold on for the win. The Bobcats shot 53.2% from the field, including six of 16 from three-point range, and won the rebounding battle 38-30. Nweke led the team with 24 points and seven rebounds in the win.
The Bobcats enter this game 156th in scoring offense with 7 2.8 points per game. Quinnipiac collects an average of 39.2 boards a night (26th) and dishes out 13.8 assists per contest. Defense has been solid for the team as the Bobcats are 92nd in scoring defense as the team allows 66.3 points per game. Dezi Jones is one of three players averaging in double figures and leads the team with 11.2 points and 3.6 assists per game this season. Ike Nweke (10.9 points, 6.1 rebounds) and Matt Balanc (10.7 points, 4.2 rebounds) each are averaging in double figures. Louis Kortright, Paul Otieno, Tyrese Williams, Tymu Chenery, JJ Riggins, Savion Lewis and Alexis Reyes are key rotation pieces for Baker Dunleavy and the Bobcats. Quinnipiac is shooting 43.6% from the field. The Bobcats knock down an average of 7.9 threes a game while they shoot 34.8% as a team from downtown. Quinnipiac is having major problems at the charity stripe, knocking down only 64.7% of their attempts on the season. That mark is just 335th in Division I and may prove to be an issue as we get deeper into conference play.