JERSEY CITY, NJ – For the fifth consecutive home game, the Saint Peter's men's basketball team was victorious in the Yanitelli Center, following an 84-72 win over Quinnipiac in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action on Friday night. The Peacocks take sole possession of first place in the MAAC standings with the win and Rider's loss at Siena tonight, improving to a league-best record of 9-5.
How it Happened
- The starting backcourt of Daryl Banks III and Aaron Estrada combined to score the Peacocks first 11 points, as Saint Peter's got out to an 11-7 lead over Quinnipiac by the first media break. Estrada led the way with six points, while Banks scored five points.
- The Peacocks would go up by double-digits following Estrada's third three-pointer of the half, putting the home team up 24-14 (5:56) off a 13-7 run.
- Quinnipiac cut the Saint Peter's lead under 10 twice, but an 8-0 spurt by the good guys, coming from a Hassan Drame layup and back-to-back triples from Banks, extended the lead to 36-18.
- By intermission, the Peacocks held an 18-point lead (38-20). Banks had 13 points, Estrada had nine points and the two combined to go 6-for-9 from behind the arc in the half.
- Saint Peter's pushed the lead to 20-points, less than four minutes into the half, going up 46-26 when Quinn Taylor found Estrada for another three-pointer.
- A run by the Bobcats, cut the lead to 13-points (48-35), forcing the Peacocks to call a timeout.
- Out of the timeout, the contest turned into the Doug Edert show, as the freshman guard scored 14 out of the next 18 Saint Peter's points over a five-minute span.
- First, Edert knocked down back-to-back trifectas, with both coming by assists from KC Ndefo (54-35). Then, he connected on another pair of threes, before driving to the basket and making a layup to put the Peacocks up 66-44 (8:08).
- The commanding lead would remain intact and after Dallas Watson's three-pointer with 4:22 left, Saint Peter's took its largest lead of the night at 23 points (75-52).
- A 10-point deficit late in the game would be the closest the Peacocks would let the Bobcats get before closing out the game 84-72.
Inside the Numbers
- Saint Peter's dominated the contest, leading for exactly 39 minutes and not allowing Quinnipiac to lead at any point of the game.
- This was the third straight game and 13th time this season, at least 10 different Peacocks scored a point.
- The freshman trio of Banks, Edert, and Estrada combined to score 50 points. Banks and Edert led the way with 18 points each, while Estrada scored 14. H. Drame and Watson both added eight points, with Majur Majak and Ndefo scoring five points apiece.
- Ndefo stuffed the stat sheet for the team, leading the squad with six rebounds, four assists, and one steal, and one block.
- Saint Peter's posted a rebound advantage of 31-25, which included seven offensive boards that led to 11 second chance points.
- The Peacocks also won the battles of points in the paint (32-30) and bench points (44-21).
- The team connected on half of their attempted triples, making and attempting season-highs of 13-of-26 three-pointers. This was the fourth time this season that the Peacocks shot 50 percent or better from beyond the arc.
- Saint Peter's handed out a season-high 17 assists in the meeting.
- Defensively, Saint Peter's held Quinnipiac to 28 percent shooting from deep (7-for-25).
- The win gives the Peacocks their third sweep over the Bobcats in the past four seasons.
- Saint Peter's continues its dominance at home this season, now holding an overall record of 8-3 and a MAAC record of 6-1 in the Yanitelli Center.
- The men from Jersey City have also now won eight of the past nine games at home.
Up Next
- Saint Peter's remains in Jersey City, welcoming Fairfield on Sunday, Feb. 16, looking for its sixth straight win at home.
