Senior forward Ousmane Drame registered his eighth double-double of the season and 32nd of his career and the Quinnipiac University Bobcats broke open a close game with a 20-6 run to open the second half en route to an 81-64 men’s basketball victory over the University of Maine on Monday night in Hamden, Connecticut.
Quinnipiac improved to 6-5 while Maine fell to 1-11.
Drame had a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Bobcats expanded a three-point halftime lead into a 17-point advantage with their 20-6 flurry.
Justin Harris had six points during the decisive run with Drame, Kasim Chandler and Evan Conti adding four apiece. Conti had a rare four-point play which made it 51-36 as he was fouled while hitting a 3-pointer.
Garet Beal’s 3-pointer with 7:38 remaining sliced the lead to 65-54 but that was as close as the Black Bears were to get.
The Black Bears had spotted the Bobcats the game’s first 12 points and fell behind 26-9 before rallying with a 21-7 run to close out the half and pull within three.
Freshman guard Kevin Little had a pair of 3-pointers and junior forward Till Gloger had two layups to fuel the rally with Beal and Garvey Melmed also hitting 3-pointers.
“We just don’t defend at a high enough level right now to be able to sustain anything,” said Maine first-year coach Bob Walsh. “We can’t trade a good night on offense for a horrendous night on defense. We’ve got to be able to make it harder for our opponents to score if we’re going to have a chance.”
Quinnipiac shot 50.8 percent from the floor compared with Maine’s 38.7 percent. The Bobcats also lived up to their billing as the nation’s top rebounding team by outrebounding Maine 42-29.
“They’re always tough on the glass,” said Walsh. “They start four seniors. That really hurt us.”
Maine’s only senior starter, leading scorer Zarko Valjarevic, missed his second straight game due to illness. He is averaging 11.4 points per game.
The balanced Bobcats placed all five starters in double figures.
Zaid Hearst finished with 15 points and eight rebounds; Chandler had 11 points and a game-high eight assists; Conti had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists and Harris chipped in with 10 points and four of Quinnipiac’s seven blocked shots.
Gloger paced the Black Bears with 19 points and six rebounds. Shaun Lawton had 11 points and a team-high five assists and Aaron Calixte and Little had nine points apiece. Calixte also dished out four assists and Little had two assists. Beal wound up with eight points and six rebounds.
“We played well together offensively but we didn’t play well defensively,” said Gloger. “We never recovered from their run in the second half.”