By: Toni Wetmore and Brandon Murdock
HAMDEN — Friday night’s rivalry showdown between Quinnipiac men’s basketball and Fairfield began with junior forward Amarri Monroe and graduate student center Paul Otieno throwing their weight around against the Stags on the scoreboard, combining for 42 points.
It ended with the duo — and the rest of the MAAC-leading Bobcats — flexing in celebration in the stands of M&T Bank Arena after downing their Connecticut foes 81-69 and extending their winning streak to six.
Monroe led the way for the Bobcats as he was the game’s leading scorer with 27 points, a new career high for the third year player, his third consecutive game being Quinnipiac’s highest scorer. He also added 10 rebounds.
Otieno also did damage in this game with a double-double of his own. He notched 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Led by Otieno and Monroe, the Bobcats were also able to flex their muscles in this one as they outrebounded the Stags 41-28. While the Stags shooting from beyond the arc stalled, the Bobcats took advantage and went to work inside as they outscored Fairfield 28-16 in the paint.
“There’s a stat where every game me and Paul have a double double we always win,” Monroe said. “We haven’t lost a single game when me and Paul have a double double… that’s just something me and Paul have, we’re competitive at it… We’re going to keep doing that cause we want to win, obviously so… we’re going to keep fighting for double doubles.”
Monroe was right; when both players achieved double-doubles, the Bobcats sit at 4-0 with wins over Hofstra, Siena, Merrimack and now Fairfield.
Monroe also had his seventh double-double of the year in a game where he was questionable to play after feeling sick earlier in the week.
“He was sick all week, yesterday we got him for half an hour,” said head coach Tom Pecora. “He had the flu bad earlier in the week, I was concerned he wasn’t going to be able to play, he took an IV on Wednesday.”
Otieno had his 10th double-double of the season, something that the Bobcats have been accustomed to as he is 32nd in the nation in rebounds per game, to go along with his 12.7 points per game.
Otieno shares what the key to success is for the team:
“I would say me and Amarri getting doubles-doubles, that’s some big points,” Otieno said. “Just bring the energy, I think, because win or lose, just be us.”
Led by their star upperclassmen, the Bobcats have been able to meet their high preseason expectations as they currently sit 9-1 in MAAC play, tied for first in the conference standings with Marist.
Head coach Tom Pecora has done an impressive job of not letting the noise get to his team.
“I worked for Coach [Rollie] Massimino, who’s a legend, and he used to have a great saying he would say ‘After Shave, if you put a little bit on it’s nice, if you put on too much it’s tacky, and if you drink it it’s poison’,” continued Pecora. “That’s what success is like for a basketball team, you’ve got to have temperament, bring them back down, let them understand we’re the hunted ones now.”
Otieno and Monroe will try to build off this and extend the team’s winning streak to seven when they take on Siena tomorrow, a team they have both already recorded double-doubles against in a win earlier this year.