By Bill Cloutier
Assistant Sports Editor
bcloutier@nhregister.com
HAMDEN — Ike Azotam is making the transition from role player to star look mighty easy at Quinnipiac.
Replacing Justin Rutty, the face of the Bobcats’ basketball team for the past few seasons, Azotam recorded his third consecutive double-double to start the season as Quinnipiac hammered Navy 78-54 at the TD Bank Sports Center Saturday.
Azotam, a 6-7 sophomore power forward, scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in an efficient 22 minutes.
“I’ve been hungry,” Azotam said. “I’ve been put in a bigger role this year and I’m trying to capitalize on it.”
James Johnson led the Bobcats (2-1) with 18 points including five 3-pointers. In all Quinnipiac was 10 for 30 from 3-point range.
“I don’t think that’s going to be our identity,” Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said. “They were playing zone and we were reversing the ball pretty good. They did a good job of packing it in and the 3-pointers were more a by-product of how they were playing.”
The Bobcats raced out to a 16-3 lead and were never threatened in front of the crowd of 1,690 notching their second straight win. Nate Gause added 13 points.
Isaiah Sugars led Navy (2-2) with eight points but the Midshipmen were unable to establish any offensive rhythm against Quinnipiac’s pressure defense. Navy turned the ball over 22 times and shot just 38 percent in the game.
Garvey Young, a transfer from Vermont, made his debut for the Bobcats. Young was just 1 for 7 from the field but he had three steals.
“He had some rust on him, you could see that,” Moore said of Young who missed the first two games with a shoulder injury.
“It was good to have him get his feet wet. He’s been a mystery man because he’s been here for so long and people have been waiting to see him play. He’s a good defender and when he makes a gamble for a steal he picks and chooses a good spot for it.”
That was the play that led to Young’s only basket as he picked off a pass on one end of the court and raced to the basket for a slam dunk.