MEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAYS


QUINNIPIAC AT LONG ISLAND
Where: Wellness Center, Brooklyn
When: Today, 4:30 p.m.
Records: Quinnipiac (15-14, 11-6 Northeast); Long Island (16-13, 11-6)
Radio: WQUN-1220 AM
Internet: www.QuinnipiacBobcats.com
Video: NEC Front Row

What to look for
Scouting Long Island: The Blackbirds held off Sacred Heart in Thursday's crucial penultimate NEC game. The victory leaves the preseason favorites in a four-way tie for second place with Quinnipiac, Bryant and Wagner. A win today guarantees a home game in the first round of the tournament. Robert Morris has locked up the top seed. LIU is 10-4 at home and led by Jamal Olasewere averaging 18.7 points and 8.4 rebounds. Point guard Jason Brickman leads the nation in assists.
Scouting Quinnipiac: The Bobcats rebounded from a tough loss at Central Connecticut State to defeat St. Francis, N.Y., on Thursday. The victory kept Quinnipiac's chances of a No. 2 seed in the NEC tournament alive but they can finish as low as sixth in the regular-season standings with a loss. Quinnipiac beat LIU earlier in the season but the Blackbirds, who knocked Quinnipiac out of last season's NEC tournament played without its top players Olasawere and C.J. Garner. Quinnipiac has won seven of its last eight games and had four players reach double figures against SFNY led by Ike Azotam with 19.

NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT
ALBERTUS MAGNUS AT ALVERNIA

Jefferson Lora

Where: Physical Education center, Reading, Pa.
When: 7 p.m.
Video: albertusfalcons.com
Records: Albertus Magnus (24-4); Alvernia (23-4)

What to look for
Scouting Albertus Magnus: The Falcons are in the tournament for the third time in the last four year. In both of their previous trips they won their tournament opener but lost in the second round. Albertus is a veteran team with six seniors. Darius Watson leads the team in scoring at 23.3 ppg. while both Arshad Jackson and James Jennings are scoring over a dozen a game.
Scouting Alvernia: The Crusaders are making their eighth appearance in the championships and hosting for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Alvernia (23-4) used a 78-68 win over Lycoming on Saturday afternoon in the Commonwealth Conference Championship game to earn an automatic berth into the tournament. Like AMC, Alvernia is receiving votes in the D3 top 25 poll. Kahlil Bennett leads four Crusaders scoring over double figures at 14.3 ppg.

(Records before Friday's games)
YALE AT CORNELL

Where: Newman Arena, Ithac, N.Y.
When: 7 p.m.
Video: cornellbigred.com
Records: Yale (11-15, 5-5 Ivy); Cornell (13-14, 5-5)

What to look for
Scouting Cornell: The Big Red won at Yale earlier in the season as Cornell raced out to an early 11-2 lead, withstood a Yale comeback and held on for a 68-61 victory on Feb. 15. The Bulldogs were hurt by poor foul shooting as they shot just 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) from the line. Shonn Miller had 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocks to pace Cornell and Johnathan Gray also scored 18. Miller is the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
Scouting Yale: Yale has placed fourth or better in league play in each of the last 12 years and is looking to finish with a winning league record for the third straight year and for the fifth time in the last seven years. The future certainly looks bright as well. There are seven freshmen or sophomores averaging at least 13.9 minutes per game, and players who return next year have scored 1,250 of Yale's 1,804 (69.3 percent) points. Yale's depth has played a big role in the success of this year's team. In the 10 league games, the Bulldogs' bench is averaging 28.3 points.

-- Bill Cloutier

By Bill Cloutier

bcloutier@nhregister.com
Twitter@BillCloutier

Quinnipiac tips off the Northeast Conference season tonight when it hosts St. Francis (N.Y.) in the first of two crucial contests this weekend. The Bobcats, who opened the season with high hopes of capturing its first conference title and an NCAA Tournament berth, struggled through the non-conference portion of its season.

Although nearly defeating UConn in the Paradise Jam Tournament earlier in the season the Bobcats are just 1-4 at home and lost to Maine last time out. Their halfcourt offense and foul-shooting remain major problems.

Here is a look at the predicted order of finish in the NEC regular season:

1. Robert Morris (8-5, current record): Always a title contender no player in the league is more clutch than Velton Jones. The Colonials have played in four straight NEC championship games. Led by up-and-coming coach Andy Toole, RMU is a lock to battle for the title once again and Jones could seize Player of the Year honors.

2. Wagner (6-5): The Seahawks lost coach Danny Hurley to Rhode Island but are still one of the top clubs in the conference coming off an impressive 25-6 campaign. Bashir Thompson is the youngest coach in the nation and he has had an uneven start to his tenure mixing lineups along the way but Wagner is talented and has perhaps more depth than anyone in the conference.

3. Long Island (5-7): The Blackbirds were the preseason favorite for their third straight NEC title but after losing reigning Player of the Year Julian Boyd to a season-ending knee injury their margin for error took a serious hit. Jamal Olasawere will have to shoulder an increased load and manage to stay out of foul trouble which has been his undoing in the past. LIU can't afford any other injuries on its way back to the NCAA and will be without its top three players for the first two games of the NEC season (Olasawere and C.J. Garner due to suspension and Boyd due to injury).

4. St. Francis (N.Y.) (4-7): Rugged power forward Jalen Cannon leads the enigmatic Terriers. Cannon is one of the few threats to Quinnipiac's Ike Azotam to win the NEC rebounding title. He is a rugged force in the paint with a deft touch. SFNY needs to find consistent scoring to battle for the title but are a menace with Cannon in tight games.

5. Bryant (7-4): This is the first year that the Bulldogs are eligible for the postseason and the timing couldn't be any better. Bryant won just one conference game last season and is wildly inconsistent but its starting lineup is solid offensively and that alone will lead to several wins. A fast start will get them in the postseason tournament and they've already won at Boston College and Lehigh.

6. Central Connnecticut State (4-7): The Blue Devils will be fun to watch led by high-scoring combo of Kyle Vinales and Matt Hunter. Suprisingly, however, CCSU is one of the worst rebounding teams in the country and if coach Howie Dickenman can't change that then no one can. It will be their downfall.

7. Quinnipiac (4-7): The Bobcats were picked fourth in the preseason poll but no one has stepped up consistently to help their struggling offense. Ike Azotam is sure to draw double- and triple-team defenses in the halfcourt set leaving the scoring burden to others. No team will work harder or rebound better but there's only so many games that coach Tom Moore can provide the difference.

8. Sacred Heart (2-9): The Pioneers have the league's best scorer in Shane Gibson and one its best pure point guards in Wallingford's Phil Gaetano. They don't have depth, however, and have struggled mightily in the preseason. Gibson has to have a huge year to keep coach Dave Bike's team in the playoff picture.

9. Monmouth (5-8): The Hawks, along with Quinnipiac, will move to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference next season. Monmouth has the potential to crack the top eight and earn an NEC Tournament berth but they seem to lack the offensive firepower to go any further.

10. Mount St. Mary's (5-6): Junior guard Julian Norfleet will look to carry the Mount back into the top half of the league. After winning just six games in the NEC last year Jamion Christian takes over as head coach but MSM has not shot the ball nor rebounded well in non-conference action.

11. Fairleigh Dickinson (5-7): Kinu Rochford is the hottest name in the NEC coming off back-to-back 30-point performances. The Knights could finish much higher if Hartford-transfer Mustafaa Jones shoots well but history is against them.

12. Saint Francis (Pa.) (0-11): Sure the Red Flash have played difficult non-conference schedule but not only are they winless they really haven't even been competitive. Umar Shannon is a one-man team.

Things just got a little more interesting the Northeast Conference.

Long Island's Julian Boyd, the reigning Northeast Conference player of the year found out over the weekend that a torn ACL in his right knee has ended his season eight games in.

The talented Boyd has gone through something like this before.

Before the 2009-10 season, Boyd, who had been selected NEC rookie of the year, was told he had a heart condition known as noncompaction cardiomyopathy -- part of his heart was enlarged. There would be no activity of any kind for months. Finally he was cleared to resume playing basketball. He played like he did before the diagnosis. Many thought he played at a higher level and the Blackbirds won the conference tournament the last two years and the NCAA tournament berths that came with them.

Things were going well for Boyd in his senior season until a play near midcourt in the second half of a win at Rice last Wednesday.

Boyd went for a steal, got tangled up with some other players and his leg was bent the wrong way. Boyd knew he was hurt because of the pain. He was helped off the court. Nobody would know how bad it was until he underwent an MRI.

LIU is the favorite to win the NEC title.

The following report comes from the New York Daily News. The Blackbirds have been the top program in the NEC for the past few seasons and look to be the overwelming choice to win the title again this year. Boyd and Olasawere could be the best two players in the conference.

Julian Boyd

Long Island University Brooklyn has suspended the four members of its men’s basketball team for their involvement in a Sept. 14 fight on campus, LIU Brooklyn Director of Athletics John Suarez said in a statement.


“No other student-athletes were implicated in this incident,” Mr. Suarez said. “Until all legal and appeals processes have been completed, we will not comment further on this matter.”

Four members of the Long Island University Brooklyn men’s basketball team were arrested last night and charged with assault in the third degree, the New York Post reported. Seniors Julian Boyd, the Blackbirds leading scorer and rebounder in 2012, Jamal Olasewere, the team’s second leading scorer, C. J. Garner, third in team scoring, and reserve Troy Joseph were all picked up on the university’s Downtown Brooklyn campus after they were accused of assaulting three men and two women on the university track team during a fight at a campus dorm on Sept. 15 Sept. 14.

The arrests come at a time when the LIU basketball program, which has qualified for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament the past two seasons, hopes to win its third Northeast Conference championship in a row. Not only will the Blackbirds play three dates at the new Barclays Center, in November the team is scheduled to travel to Lexington, Kentucky to tip-off against the national champion Wildcats.

Student-athletes on the campus have already come to the players’ aid, according to the Blackbirds Hoops Journal, garnering more than 300 student signatures on a petition supporting the four arrested athletes.

It was a wild day of softball action in the area.
SCSU lost to Molloy 7-3 in 15 innings in the Super Regional at Yale on Friday.
With the loss, Southern needs to win twice on Saturday to advance to the Division II College World Series.
While Southern was defeated, Quinnipiac won twice on Friday to move to the Northeast Conference title game.
Quinnipiac beat Monmouth 4-1in the first game of the day and then beat host Robert Morris 4-3 in 12 innings.
Senior Ashley Heiberger (Sioux Falls, S.D.) lifted a sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th inning on Friday afternoon to send the #2 seeded Quinnipiac University softball team past #1 Robert Morris, 4-3, in a thrilling Northeast Conference Semifinal match-up in Moon Township, Pa.
With the win, the Bobcats advance to the tournament finals tomorrow afternoon, taking on #3 LIU Brooklyn at 12:30 p.m. QU needs to defeat the Blackbirds twice in order to hoist the trophy at the end of the day and earn the NCAA berth.
With the game knotted a three apiece after regulation, Quinnipiac (32-17) and Robert Morris (35-22) played several scoreless innings until the top of the 12th frame. Alex Alba (Sylmar, Calif.) led off the inning with a base-hit and moved on over to second on a sacrifice bunt from Mina Duffy (Piedmont, Calif.). Nikki Barba (San Diego, Calif.) prolonged the rally with a base-hit and then stole second base, leaving second and third with one out. Heiberger laced a 2-2 pitch into center field, allowing Alba to come across for the go-ahead run. Heather Schwartzburg (Mission Viejo, Calif.) kept the Colonials off of the scoreboard in the last half, propelling the Bobcats into the Championship game.
Katie Alfiere (Beacon Falls, Conn.) and Schwartzburg combined to go all 12 innings in the circle for the Bobcats. Alfiere, who started the game, allowed one run on three hits over 2.1 innings of work. Schwartzburg relieved Alfiere and pitched the rest of the way. She went 9.2 innings, allowed seven hits, two runs (0 earned) and struck out 11 for her 20th win of the season.
The elimination contest featured a pair of scoreless innings to begin the seven-inning affair. However, in the top of the third inning, Quinnipiac got the bats going to generate the game’s first runs. Lauren Salgado (Covina, Calif.), Christy Cabrera (West Sacramento, Calif.) and Jacquie Ristow (Seal Beach, Calif.) each reached base with consecutive singles to load the bases. Alba stepped into the batters’ box and lined a base-hit up the middle for a 1-0 lead, followed by a one-out, base-knock from Barba for a 2-0 lead. The Bobcats tacked on one more when Courtney Kesses (Woodbridge, Conn.) was hit by a pitch, leaving a 3-0 advantage after the top half of the inning.

By Bill Cloutier
Assistant Sports Editor
bcloutier@nhregister.com
NEW BRITAIN – Central Connecticut State forward Terrell Allen pulled his jersey over his head with 10 seconds still left to play. His expression showed it all.
Allen couldn’t bear to look at the finish as Quinnipiac held Central Connecticut State to just two points in the final 10 minutes of the game on the way to a 67-59 victory in a Northeast Conference men’s basketball game at Detrick Gymnasium Sunday.
Quinnipiac (15-10, 8-6 NEC) has won six of its last seven games to move into fifth place in the conference. The opposite is true for the sinking Blue Devils. Central (10-14, 7-7) has lost six of seven and fell a game behind the Bobcats in the standings. Both teams have four games left.
James Johnson led Quinnipiac with 20 points and Ike Azotam had 15. Kyle Vinales led all scorers with 27 points for Central. But the rest of the Blue Devils made just 13 of 45 shots and star forward Ken Horton was the main culprit. The reigning NEC Player of the Year was 3-for-18 from the field.
Again playing to coach Tom Moore’s defensive demands Quinnipiac held Central to 29 percent shooting in the second half and the Blue Devils made just one of their final 20 shots from the field.
“We have a drill called ‘five stops’ where he have to stop them for five trips without scoring before we can get off the floor,” Johnson said. “I knew the guys had the determination to get five stops and that’s exactly what they did.”
Said Moore: “It sounds like a broken record but we’ve stressed holding our opponents under 40 percent shooting in the second half and we’ve done it for the last seven games and we’ve won six games. We’ve grasped our identity in the past three weeks.”
Central took a 57-52 lead on a long 3-pointer by Horton that brought the crowd of 2,557 to their feet with 10:22 to play. But the Blue Devils got just one more field the goal the rest of the way, a short jumper by Allen. At the time CCSU led 59-54 but they never scored again.
Quinnipiac scored the final 13 points of the game and the run started with a 3-pointer by Johnson. The Quinnipiac got the ball inside to Azotam for two quick baskets and another from freshman center Ousmane Drame. Johnson hit another jumper with 2:28 to go giving Quinnipiac a 63-59 lead.
Horton was then fouled on a drive to the basket. He landed on his tailbone and had to leave the game. Malcolm McMillan shot the free throw for Horton and missed it adding to the frustration.
“James Johnson I thought took the game over,” CCSU coach Howie Dickenman said. “He basically said, it’s my time to prove that I’m a senior leader and he went out and did it and I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
Johnson hit a huge 3-pointer with 4:15 to play to cut CCSU’s 59-54 lead to just two
Despite the loss, CCSU coach Howie Dickenman was pleased with his team’s effort. The Bobcats won Wednesday’s matchup 72-44. In that contest they raced out to a 15-2 lead and cruised to the easy win.
After that game Dickenman questioned their heart but on Sunday the Blue Devils hustled, dove and even out-rebounded Quinnipiac.
“I was very proud of our effort,” Dickenman said. “On Wednesday night I was discouraged and embarrassed. Today was a gut check for our team. We were good and solid but then we missed 19 of our final 20 shots and it’s hard to win a game that way. We might have settled for 3-pointers but they were open. We also missed a couple of alley-oops.”
“But if we play like we did today the rest of the year we’ll be OK and we’ll make the (NEC) tournament.”
Said Moore: “I tip my hat to them on how hard they played and how focused they were.”
Central came out with much more energy and got 17 first-half points from Vinales. But Quinnipiac went 6-for-7 from 3-point range and used a 21-4 run to erase a 17-9 deficit. The Bobcats got eight points in the first half from Garvey Young but later missed six straight free throws and led just 39-33 at the half.
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Assistant Sports Editor
bcloutier@nhregister.com
The quest is quite different for the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team as it heads down the stretch this season. For the past few years Quinnipiac has waged a battle for the Northeast Conference regular-season title. This year they’re just hoping to earn a spot in the playoffs.

Quinnipiac plays host to Central Connecticut State tonight at 7 p.m. at the TD Bank Sports Center in the first of two crucial contests between the two teams this week. The Bobcats (13-10, 6-6 NEC) are currently in sixth place, while Central (10-12, 7-5) checks in at fifth place, a game ahead of Quinnipiac.
“We’re in a good place right now,” Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said. “They feel good about themselves and I’m real happy how we’ve looked defensively lately.”
Central is led by NEC preseason Player of the Year Ken Horton who is second in the conference in both scoring (19.8 ppg) and rebounding (9.2 rpg). He scored 29 points in a recent loss at conference-leading Long Island. The Blue Devils have also gotten fantastic scoring from sharp-shooter Robby Ptacek (18.5 ppg) and freshman phenom Kyle Vinales (17.8 ppg) who are third and fourth in the conference in scoring.
“When you play a team with three great scorers it’s like pick your poison,” Moore said. “We usually play Horton straight up and we’ve had success against Ptacek but some of times we’ve played him he’s been injured.”
This will be Quinnipiac’s first look at Vinales, who scored a season-high 39 points against Niagara earlier in the season, but they do get back the services of forward Jamee Jackson who Moore called the best defensive player in the conference.
Quinnipiac has won five straight games in the series. More importantly, the Bobcats have won four of their last five games to climb up the NEC’s standings.
“It’s been good for us,” Moore said. “As a coach you can preach all you want about things but if they don’t see the results it’s not going to matter much. We’ve told them all along to focus on defense in the second half.
“In the past five games no team has shot over 40 percent in the second half and we’ve won four games.”
There are no easy spots the rest of the way. The Bobcats’ final six opponents are a combined 47-25 in conference play. After playing Central the Bobcats finish with Robert Morris, LIU, St. Francis (N.Y.) and St. Francis (Pa.). They’ve lost to all four teams already this season.
But they’re not shaken.
“It’s not like we’ve gotten pounded by anyone,” Moore said. “We played (the top two teams in the NEC) LiU to four points and Wagner by one. “The guys feel there’s not anyone in the league we can’t beat.”
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HAMDEN – Nothing is coming easy for the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team this year. But, after two straight overtime victories maybe the Bobcats have things headed in the right direction.
Quinnipiac spotted Mount St. Mary’s a 15-point halftime lead but roared back early in the second half and pulled out a 69-66 overtime win in a Northeast Conference game at the TD Bank Sports Center Thursday. The Bobcats got 20 points from Ike Azotam and 26 second-chance points on the way to the victory.

Ousmane Drame scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and James Johnson added 15 points for the Bobcats (11-9, 4-5 NEC).
“The last three years we’ve closed the season 6-3, 9-1 and 10-1,” Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said. “This is the time of the year we need more energy from them.”
They also need another big finish. The Bobcats entered play on Thursday in eighth place in the NEC and only the top eight teams qualify for the postseason tournament.
“We can’t afford to lose any because we’re battling for our spot in the (NEC) tournament,” Azotam said. “Each game is equally important.”
The Mountaineers (4-16, 2-7) got a game-high 22 points from Julian Norfleet but the flashy sophomore guard missed a 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer which would have tied the game again.
Second-half defense has been Moore’s biggest concern in NEC play. On Thursday the Bobcats didn’t play any defense in the first half and Mount St. Mary’s took a stunning 43-28 lead at the half shooting 52 percent from the field.
“I was shocked and disappointed with our play in the first half,” Moore said. “But this is the second game in the row that we played much better defense in the second half and it led us to two wins.”
Quinnipiac opened the second half on a 16-2 run to get back in the game as the Mount managed just a dunk by Raven Barber in the first eight minutes after the break.
“I only had 11 minutes at half to give them a spanking, a pep talk and everything,” Moore said. “I had to talk quick and be a parent but I had to get them to understand that we weren’t going to get 15 points in the first minute. I told them to see where we were at the 10-minute mark.”
Said Azotam: “I like the way we came out in the second half. We knew we could come back because we did it against Boston University.”
The Mount tied the game at 61 at the end of regulation when Kelvin Parker rolled in two of his 16 points from close range in the final seconds.
Quinnipiac never trailed in the extra session. Azotam gave the Bobcats a 67-65 lead with 1:10 to play. After Barber hit one of two free throws to close the gap to 67-66, Drame had the biggest basket of the game with a putback of a deflected airball by Zaid Hearst with 20 seconds left.
“We send multiple guys to the glass and that’s just Ousmane having a great feel for the game,” Moore said.
Quinnipiac played without forward Jamee Jackson who missed the game with a strained Achilles tendon. Moore said he was questionable for Saturday’s game against second-place Wagner.
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Men’s basketball gameday
BOSTON UNIVERSITY AT QUINNIPIAC
When: Saturday, noon.
Where: TD Bank Sports Center, Hamden
Records: Boston University (4-8); Quinnipiac (7-5)
Radio: WQUN-1220
TV: NESN, SNY
KEEP AN EYE ON
Discounted tickets: Tickets are just $5 for the New Year’s Eve matinee.
Scouting Quinnipiac: The Bobcats rank third in the nation in reboundng and Ike Azotam is a big reason. Azotam is eighth nationally averaging 11.2 rebounds a game and has scored 76 points in his last three outings. Quinnipiac has won five of six as it prepares to play its final non-conference game of the season.
Scouting Boston University: The Terriers have lost four straight but all have come against strong foes. Their last win was against rival Boston College. BU has an RPI of 181, while Quinnipiac is at 171 but the Terriers strength of schedule is much higher than that of the Bobcats. They’ve been out-rebounded by their opponents by over four boards a game which is an area that Quinnipiac will try to take advantage of but senior guard Darryl Partin, a 6-6 scoring machine, will cause plenty of problems defensively. Point guard D.J. Irving is questionable with a head injury.
PROBABLE STARTERS
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Player Ht. Yr. Pos. PPG
Dom Morris 6-7 So. F 6.8
Travis Robinson 6-5 So. F 5.5
Patrick Hazel 6-6 Sr. F 7.7
Darryl Partin 6-6 Sr. G 20.8
Matt Griffin 5-10 Sr. G 5.6
QUINNIPIACIke Azotam 6-7 So. F 16.2
Dave Johnson 5-10 Jr. G 7.1
Zaid Hearst 6-4 Fr. G 5.6
James Johnson 6-0 Sr. G 17.3
Ousmane Drame 6-10 Fr. F 5.3

OFF THE BENCH
Boston Univ. — D.J. Irving, 6-0, So., G, 12.6 ppg.; Zach Chionuma, 6-5, Fr., G, 1.3; Malik Thomas, 6-7, Fr., F, 3.2. Quinnipiac — Nate Gause, 6-3, Fr., G, 5.0; Garvey Young, 6-5, Jr., G, 5.3.

HAMDEN – Jamee Jackson, a starting forward on the Quinnipiac men’s basketball, will be sidelined for three to five weeks after injuring his foot on Thursday.
According to Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore, Jackson suffered torn ligaments in his foot and scar tissue. X-rays revealed no fracture and no surgery will be necessary but Jackson will be in a walking boot for three weeks.
Jackson, third on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg) and second in rebounds (5.4 rpg.), sat out Thursday night’s game against Niagara, an 85-81 Bobcat victory, after stepping on a ball while following through on a dunk during afternoon practice.
Jackson, a junior from Newark, N.J., had been playing his best basketball since arriving at the school recently. He scored a career-high 21 points in a win against Bryant while grabbing nine rebounds in the game. Last week he scored 20 points in a win at Vermont.
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By Bill Cloutier

Assistant Sports Editor

bcloutier@nhregister.com

HAMDEN — It was too early to call Saturday’s game against Bryant a must-win for the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team. It wasn’t too early for the Bobcats to play that way.



Quinnipiac raced out to a 27-point lead in the first half and cruised to an 83-72 victory in a Northeast Conference game at the TD Bank Sports Center Saturday afternoon. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Bobcats who rebounded from a lifeless effort against Sacred Heart just two days ago.

"In light of how poorly we played offense on Thursday, for emotionally and confidence-wise it was really good for us," Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said. "We put up 44 points really quickly. It was 44-19 us with five minutes to go in the first half.

"We had great body language and you could just see our spirits lift."

Saturday also saw the emergence of enigmatic forward Jamee Jackson for Quinnipiac (3-4, 1-1 NEC). Jackson scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds and appears ready to join James Johnson and Ike Azotam as a legitimate option on offense. The Bobcats have struggled to find consistency in that area.

"I’m thrilled with the performance of Jamee Jackson," Moore said. "Jamee’s really blossoming now as a junior. He’s had the best 10 practices in a row since he’s been at Quinnipiac. That’s what’s fun about college basketball ... You expect growth and development and that’s what we’re starting to see with him and it’s really exciting."

Said Jackson: "It was a tough loss on Thursday. We expected to win the game but knew we couldn’t dwell on the loss. We were excited to get back into practice and it carried over into the game.

"Against Fairfield and American I had good games. Then I got into foul trouble but I kept being aggressive and kept playing hard on defense and I knew it would come if I kept playing hard."

Bryant was led by Alex Francis and Corey Maynard, who both scored 18 points. Francis scored 20 points against Notre Dame earlier in the season and helped the Bulldogs stun Quinnipiac last year when they erased a 25-point lead to beat the Bobcats at Hamden. But Jackson also did a solid job slowing down the Bulldogs’ exciting swingman and Bryant performed no such miracles this time.

Overall, Quinnipiac played its best offensive game of the season. It shot 55 percent from the field in the first half including a 5-for-9 performance from 3-point range.

The Bulldogs make things a bit interesting when they ended the first half on a 16-3 run hitting four straight 3-pointers in the surge. Quinnipiac held a 47-33 lead at the break and outrebounded the Bulldogs 24-9 in the first half.

Bryant refused to quit and cut the deficit to 54-43 midway through the second half when the Bobcats imposed their will. Following a missed jumper by Dave Johnson, Azotam raced from the baseline to the top of the key to steal a rebound and fired a pass to James Johnson on the wing who buried a 3-pointer.

Bryant never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way and that came in the final minute.

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Here are Tom Moore's thoughts on the Bobcats NEC loss to Sacred Heart and some highlights from the game.

Justin Rutty is gone and, according to the Northeast Conference preseason coaches’ poll, so, too, are the lofty expectations for the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team.
Quinnipiac, the unanimous choice to win the 2010-11 NEC title, was picked fifth in this season’s poll.

“Looking at the teams and who everyone has coming back, that’s probably where we should be picked,” Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said. “You could say we’re in a rebuilding mode. We have nine new players to go with our core of four players.”

Last year’s conference champ, Long Island, was picked to repeat its title. The Blackbirds went 27-6 last year. Robert Morris, who eliminated Quinnipiac in the NEC tournament for the second year in a row, was picked second followed by Central Connecticut State. Wagner was picked fourth and Sacred Heart was picked to finish eighth.

“This is the best the league has been in the 10 years that I’ve been here,” LIU coach Jim Ferry said. “We didn’t talk about winning a championship, we just want to finish in the top four to have a chance to win it.”

Quinnipiac has earned postseason tournament bids the past two seasons racking up 45 wins in the process. Rutty, one of the league’s top players for the past few seasons, is now playing professionally in Europe. That will put a great deal of the team’s promise in the hands of point guard James Johnson.

Johnson was selected to the preseason all-conference team along with CCSU’s Ken Horton, LIU’s Julian Boyd and Jamal Olasewere and Wagner’s Tyler Murray.
Johnson still faces possible suspension from the team for his involvement in an assault that is still pending in the courts. Moore would not say if Johnson would be available for the team’s season-opener on Nov. 11 in the Connecticut 6 tournament.

Johnson is perhaps the league’s most important player. He led Quinnipiac in scoring last season, is an unflappable point guard and is its best defensive player.
Filling Rutty’s shoes won’t be an easy task but Quinnipiac does have Ike Azotam and Jamee Jackson returning to the front court. The pair hope to maintain the Bobcats’ fierce identity of rebounding. The Bobcats have ranked amongst the nation’s leaders in rebounding average for the past three years and Moore said they outrebounded Northeastern by 17 in a recent scrimmage.

Jackson and Azotam both played well when Rutty missed seven games down the stretch last season due to injury.

“It was good for Jamee to be thrown into the fire last year,” Moore said. “He responded a bit. He had 20 points at Monmouth the night we heard that Justin was going to be out for a while. It was good for Jamee to take the lead and his numbers went up and that’s been explained to him and is going to be explained to him again as the season approaches.”