HAMDEN, Conn. (Jan. 31, 2008) – Redshirt junior Bassirou Dieng (Dakar, Senegal /Riverdale Baptist) (Dakar, Senegal / Riverdale Baptist) had a career high 18 points, but Quinnipiac pulled away in the second half to defeat the Saint Francis men's basketball team 73-55 on Thursday night at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.

The Red Flash pulled to within 41-40 on a layup by junior Chris Berry (Seagoville, TX/Seagoville) (Seagoville, Texas / Seagoville). However, the Bobcats went on a 16-1 run to take control, and ended the game on a 32-15 run.

Senior DeMario Anderson scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half for Quinnipiac, while Evann Baker had a team-high 17 off the bench.

Redshirt junior Cale Nelson (Newville, PA /Big Spring) (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) had 12 points for the Red Flash, redshirt sophomore Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) added 8 points and 6 rebounds, and Berry finished with 8 points and 9 rebounds.

Dieng sparked the Red Flash early in the first half as the rest of his teammates struggled from the field. He scored the game's first seven points, and helped Saint Francis jump out to an early seven point lead at 9-2 just 5:14 into the ball game. The Bobcats slowly chipped away at the lead and eventually tied it at 13-13 with 7:42 to go on a Bryan Geffen 3-pointer from the elbow.

The Red Flash briefly took a 14-13 lead on a Dieng free throw, but Quinnipiac utilized the full court press and answered with an 8-0 run to go ahead 21-14. But Saint Francis responded as it had in its two previous games, and went on a 12-1 run of its own before Baker hit a 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining in the first half as SFU took a 26-25 lead into the recess.

The teams traded the first five buckets, and leads, coming out of the break. Justin Rutty hit a layup to give the Bobcats a 27-26 lead. Berry answered with a jumper before Rutty slammed one home to make it 29-28, Quinnipiac. Dieng put in an aggressive reverse layup to give SFU a 30-29 lead, but Anderson came back down and hit a 3-pointer to give the Bobcats the lead for good, 32-30, with 18:42 remaining. After the teams traded misses at each end of the floor, Anderson completed a traditional 3-point play to make it 35-30 Bobcats. But the Red Flash chipped away and Berry made a layup to pull Saint Francis within 41-40 with 12:26 to go.

However, Quinnipiac went on a 16-1 run with Baker scoring seven of the first 10 points on the run to open the game up at 51-41. It turned into a 23-3 run as the Bobcats held SFU without a field goal for 7:24 to take their largest lead of the game, 64-43, on an Anderson dunk with 5:42 to play.

Rutty finished 7-of-10 from the field for 14 points and 7 rebounds for Quinnipiac. The Bobcats struggled to a 3-of-10 start at the charity stripe in the first half, but came back to nail 11-of-12 in the final 20 minutes.

Postgame Quotes

Head coach Bobby Jones:

Press Conference Opening Statement

“I'd like to credit Quinnipiac on an unbelievable second half. I thought the second half certainly was the difference in the ball game. We did a nice job in the first half containing DeMario Anderson, who is a tremendous player in this league. In the second half, he really asserted himself, scoring 14 points in the second half and leading the game with six assists. I really thought he was the difference for them in the second half. Their ability to go to the offensive glass in the first half I thought really got us in trouble. They are a team that is really a tremendous offensive rebounding team, averaging 14 offensive rebounds on the year. They go in at half with nine offensive rebounds, and we go in up by one point. So we were fortunate to be up one giving up that many second chance opportunities. But the second half, I was a little bit disappointed. I thought we lost our composure a little bit. They made a run, and then I didn't think we did a good job of adjusting. To their credit, they made shots. They shot 69 percent in the second half. When a team is shooting 69 percent, boy it's going to be awful tough to beat them.”

Did the press in the first half surprise you?

“I thought it surprised us a little bit. We had a couple of turnovers there. But we got off to a great start. Then they forced a few turnovers and they had a little bit of a run there in the first half. But we regained our composure and I thought toward the end of the half that we played a lot better. Certainly going in up one on the road against a very good Quinnipiac team, I was pleased with that. But the second half I thought was the difference. We gave up far too many layups. We didn't do a good job of matching up in transition. We couldn't stop them in man-to-man. I thought that was the difference in the second half. They went on a 32-15 run to end the game, and I thought DeMario Anderson really asserted himself during that stretch.”

Talk about playing in this hostile environment

“That's what college basketball is all about. It's great to get the student body involved. I thought their students certainly were into the game, especially when they were making a run. When you play at home, you certainly want to see that. We have to do a better job of playing through that. When teams are going on a run, you certainly want to protect the ball a little bit better. But they are students, and that's college basketball.”

What do you think the top reasons were that you guys couldn't keep pace with Quinnipiac tonight?

“I thought their experience was big. They really turned up their intensity, particularly on the defensive end and on the offensive end as well. When you have a player like DeMario Anderson who is very capable of taking over a game, he's a fifth-year guy, an experienced guy, and a very, very good player. In my opinion, he's one of the top two or three players in this conference. In the second half, he was the difference. He goes in at half with only two points, and comes out in the second half and scores 14 points. They have good shooters. I think (Casey) Cosgrove is a very good shooter. The kid (Bryan Geffen) hit some big shots in transition, and we didn't do a very good job of matching up with him. And I thought they were driving the basketball way too much against our man-to-man (defense). But hey, all that being said, I'm smart enough to know they are a very, very good basketball team. They are one of the top two or three teams in my opinion in this league. They have what it takes to make it to the playoffs, and really advance in the playoffs. They have experience, they have good shooting, they have heady guard play, and they have a go-to player in DeMario Anderson. This team is certainly a team to look out for.”

Talk about Dieng scoring the first seven points of the game. He really gave you guys a jump start, but didn't do much in the second half:

“I have to look at the film. He's not a physical guy. He's 6-9 and he's having to bang against some pretty strong guys inside for Quinnipiac tonight, and they probably wore him down a little bit. He played most of the second half in foul trouble, so we had to sit him a little bit more than we would have liked to. He certainly got off to a good start. I thought he was the one player for us tonight that really battled. He got us off to a great start. He played hard. But when you are banging against 6-9, 250 all night, that tends to wear on a little thin guy like him. So I thought their big guys wore him down a little bit.”