By Bill Cloutier, Assistant Sports Editor

HAMDEN — It must have seemed like a funeral march for the Sacred Heart men’s basketball team.

On virtually every possession, Quinnipiac drove to the basket and drew a foul. The Bobcats then marched to the free throw line and connected time after time, hammering nails into Sacred Heart’s playoff hopes while boosting their own title dreams.

Quinnipiac made 45 of 52 free throws on the way to a 90-87 Northeast Conference victory in front of 2,778 at the TD Bank Sports Center Saturday. The Bobcats improved to 16-7, 10-2 in the NEC. They are 9-0 at home, the best start in program history, and in second place in the conference.

“I don’t feel like we have to win every game, I just feel like every time we step on the court we are going to win,” Quinnipiac’s Jeremy Baker said. “That’s the type of confidence we have. We’re not worried about anyone else.”

James Feldeine scored 22 points, including 10 straight in a crucial stretch in the second half when Quinnipiac rallied from a seven-point deficit to claim a 71-66 lead with 7 minutes, 23 seconds to play. Until then, Sacred Heart had led much of the game, but the Pioneers never got closer than three points the rest of the way.

Sacred Heart’s Jerrell Thompson led all scorers with a career-high 30 points, but the Pioneers slipped to 12-11, 5-7. Corey Hassan had 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. The Pioneers are currently in ninth place in the conference. Only the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs.

That’s quite confusing for a team that ranks among the conference’s best on offense and was on fire for most of Saturday’s game.

“What’s the opposite of fantastic?” Sacred Heart coach Dave Bike asked. “We’re a fantastic offensive team, but we’re the opposite defensively. That’s not a good formula.”

Quinnipiac took advantage of the Pioneers’ defensive shortcomings all game. The Bobcats missed their first six 3-point attempts, so coach Tom Moore had the answer.

“After the first 10 minutes, coach Moore told us to stop shooting 3s and go to the basket. He told us just to keep driving to the basket and we’d get fouled. The refs were on our side today,” Feldeine said with a laugh. Continued...

• 1
• 2
• See Full Story

Feldeine said the Bobcats had put in more time practicing free throws during the past week, and it paid major dividends. They stayed in the game by making 34 of their first 36 attempts. Feldeine actually missed four straight late in the contest after making his first 10. It was the Bobcats’ only hiccup. Baker finished with 18 points and was 9-for-9 at the line.

Justin Rutty added 16 points, moving him to seven away from 1,000 for his career. Rutty also led everyone with 13 rebounds.

“Two years ago — I can even say last year — we wouldn’t have come out of here with a win,” Feldeine said. “All of our guys with a year under our belt, we had a lot of these situations last year, and we learned from it.

“We never panic. We’re playing way better, and we’re not putting so much pressure on ourselves. We’re all veterans, and veterans make this league.”

Sacred Heart led by 11 early in the contest before the Bobcats roared back to take a one-point lead. But the offense was in top form and the Pioneers connected on 50 percent of their shots in the first half to take a 46-42 lead into the break. Sacred Heart finished making 12 of 25 3-point shots while Quinnipiac made just one, but the Pioneers were outscored 45-11 from the free throw line.

“I think that they want to go to the line, and they have the ability to make plays that get them to the line,” Bike said. “We didn’t slow them up enough. Anytime there’s that much of an exaggeration, we’ve got to look at it like, what can we do to get to the line more?”

Bill Cloutier can be reached at bcloutier@newhavenregister.com.

• 1
• 2
• See Full Story

• 1
• 2
• 3
• See Full Story

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• See Full Story

• Return to Paging Mode