Peacocks Men’s Basketball Remains Undefeated at the Yanitelli Center after Blowout Win over Quinnipiac

The Saint Peter’s men’s basketball team continues to reign at home as they overcame the Quinnipiac University Bobcats in an 84-58 blowout win. This 26-point win marks the eighth victory on the Peacocks’ record, improving to 8-7, 2-2 MAAC and 5-0 at home in the Yanitelli Center. This is the best start at home since the program’s 6-0 record during the 1986-87 season.

Graduate guard Nick Griffin led the Peacocks with 22 points as graduate forward Nnamdi Enechionyia and freshman guard Elijah Gonzales followed with a pair of 15 points; Gonzales also recorded a career-high of nine assists. Forward Samuel Idowu added 10 points and two blocks to the team’s victory.

Quinnipiac’s guard Cameron Young tallied 18 points while Chase Daniels poured in 16 points off the bench.

The Peacocks went off early with a 7-3 lead that later on extended to 13-6 after a pair of three-pointers from Enechionyia and Griffin. Gonzales help put SPU into a double-digit advantage,16-6, with a steal, layup and three-point play.

The rest of Peacocks began to get into the mix, including Mamadou Ndiaye, Julian powell, Griffin and Idowu who seemed unstoppable after going on a 26-8 run. The Bobcats began to put up more shots, cutting the deficit to 26-15 within the next two minutes.

Saint Peter’s continued with their hot streak with an 8-0 run sparked by Gonzales’ layup and three-ball, stretching the lead to 19 points, 34-15. SPU went into the half with the advantage at 43-28, Griffin claiming five of the half’s last nine points.

SPU shot 16-26 (61.5 %) from the field while they held Quinnipiac to just under 30 percent and six forced turnovers.

The Peacocks continued being aggressive in the second half, forcing steal in two of the first three Bobcats possessions. Quinnipiac tried to cut the deficit but baskets from Davauhnte Turner, Griffin and Cameron Jones secured the lead to over 20 points, 60-38.

Gonzales and Griffin sunk in two consecutive shots from behind the arc to achieve their largest marginal of the season, dominating the Bobcats 71-45 with under nine minutes remaining. Saint Peter’s held on to their 20-point advantage for the 84-58 win.

In this game, Saint Peter’s recorded season-highs in made field goals (32), field goal percentage (61.5%), made three-pointers (12), three-point field goal percentage (57.1%) and assists (22).

At home, the Peacocks have outscored opponents by 68 points with a scoring margin of 13.6 points. Opponents are held down to just below 37 percent in the field and 28 percent behind the arc.

SPU will travel to Buffalo to face-off against Canisius and Niagara. Saint Peter’s will tip-off against Canisius on Friday, January 12 at 7 p.m., available on ESPN3, and on Sunday, January 14 at 2 p.m. they verse Niagara.