Ike Azotam scored 14 points and Ousmane Drame added 13 but it was the Bobcats' late defense which Quinnipiac to a crucial 81-74 win over Sacred Heart in an NEC game at the Pitt Center on Thursday night.
Quinnipiac tried everything hoping to silence Gibson. Finally it was junior college transfer Shaq Shannon who held the key to throttling the Pioneer guard who entered the game 11th in the nation in scoring at 20.5 points.

Ike Azotam

Gibson scored 36 points but was shut out for the final 8 minutes, 58 seconds of play as Quinnipiac posted a pivotal 81-74 win in a Northeast Conference game at the Pitt Center. It is the fifth straight win for the surging Bobcats and seventh victory in their last eight games. The recent hot stretch has vaulted Quinnipiac into the top half of the NEC standings with four difficult games remaining on the docket.

Shannon finished with 11 points and Zaid Hearst added 10 for the Bobcats which moved into fourth place in the NEC just a game and a half behind front-running Robert Morris. James Ford came off the bench to score a nine crucial points in just eight minutes.
It was the 64th meeting between the two teams and most likely the last time they’ll meet in conference play as the Bobcats will join the MAAC next year.
“Losing begets losing and winning begets winning and we’re on the good side now,” Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said.
"We're bigger and we're deeper than they were."
They work really hard. We've had a lot of growth on this team."
Moore said his Bobcats hit the low point of the season in the second half of their last game against Sacred Heart, an 80-74 loss.
"We were awful then. Now we're the higest point we've been all season. They believe that anything is possible."