Player Seydou Traore makes a poster during the second half of the game.
WYATT KOPELMAN / COURTESY
By Maizy Swift, Production Editor and Assistant A&E Editor
The Jaspers (5-13, 2-7 MAAC) have returned home from their annual Buffalo trip following an 84-78 win against Niagara University on Jan. 28. The Jaspers also faced a difficult match against the first-seed Quinnipiac Bobcats (16-4, 7-1 MAAC).
The game began with a three-pointer by Shaquil Bender; however, Quinnipiac quickly scored as the Jaspers and the Bobcats went back and forth trading baskets with a score of 16-12 with 11 minutes to go.
Perry Cowan went on to score a three-pointer raising the score 16-15 in favor of the Bobcats. However, Quinnipiac quickly came back with a three-pointer making the score 19-15.
Despite being behind by six points, the Jaspers didn’t open the game shooting the ball. They shot 25% from the three and 30% from the field. As the game continued, Quinnipiac continued to extend their lead, raising the score to 25-18.
The ongoing issues with turnovers were evident in the first half of the game, as the Jaspers had eight turnovers with five minutes to go in the first half.
As the game continued, the Jaspers had some trouble scoring, mixed with some sloppy defensive errors. However, they scored seven unanswered points in the last two minutes of the game to bring them within one with thirty seconds left in the half.
The run for the Jaspers ended after the Bobcat’s Matt Balanc scored a step-back three. The score at the half was 35-31.
Within the first five minutes of the second half, the Jaspers had six turnovers, which allowed the Bobcats to gain eleven points. With thirteen minutes left, there were 18 turnovers in total allowing Quinnipiac to steal 22 points leaving a score of 50-38.
Seydou Traore got a poster and Jasper hit four of their last five shots bringing them back into the single digits. Draddy erupted with spirit as a glimpse of hope was shone on the team. However, hope was lost as the Jaspers lost to Quinnipiac 77-71.
Head Coach John Gallagher gave high praise to his roster following the tough loss to Quinnipiac.
“Credit to our players,” Gallagher said. “I mean, our practices the last three weeks have been unbelievable, and I’ve changed programs many times, and as a head coach I can’t tell you how proud I am of the players inside in this building in this locker room.”
The Bobcats were able to capitalize on the Jaspers’ mistakes throughout the game. The Jaspers turned the ball over 20 times and allowed Quinnipiac to score 22 points off those turnovers. Gallager spoke about the issue after the game.
“It’s something we’re gonna have to focus on in the next 40 days, they know it and I think we will embrace it,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher also gave some insight as to what Xinyi Li, a freshman forward on the team, means to him as a coach this season as he dropped 12 points on perfect shooting.
“I just told him he was perfect from offense, he ran great offense,” Gallagher said. “If he can clean up on the defensive side of the ball, there’s more minutes out there for him. I just think at the end of the day, if you look at the best mid-major teams in America … what they have is a role definition … if you’re coming in off the bench, you’re going to have to be a great stopgap rebounder, help defender and there are some things that on side that I’m going to work with Li personally on.”
This game was a great learning experience for the team, as Quinnipiac is one of the best teams in the MAAC and one of the best mid-major teams in the country.
“I feel like we still have a lot left to show, it was a good teaching point for us just keep playing hard the whole game but we still have a lot to show,” Traore said.
Bender, a junior guard, said the team hopes to work more on certain aspects of their playing which helped them come back up in the second half.
“We just started slowing down, letting them come to us in our offense,” Bender said.
The Jaspers have a game against Fairfield on Feb. 4, where hopefully their experiences in this game will pay dividends for them.