JERSEY CITY, N.J. (Feb. 4, 2022) - On a night where he became the 34th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, senior KC Ndefo made sure that was not the only milestone of the night as he set a new single game program record with 11 blocks to help the Saint Peter's University men's basketball team to an 83-74 victory over Quinnipiac University Friday night in front of a raucous crowd inside Run Baby Run Arena.
Needing 13 points to reach the milestone, Ndefo finished the night with 14, scoring his 1,000th point on a free throw with 40 seconds remaining to join Ryan Bacon as one of only two players in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 blocks in a career.
With the win, the Peacocks improved to 10-8 overall and 8-3 in MAAC play, still all alone in second place in the league standings. The Bobcats, meanwhile, dropped to 11-9 and 6-6 in the MAAC despite having five different players score in double figures.
Quinnipiac was not alone in having five players with at least 10 points as Daryl Banks III had 16, Ndefo produced 14, Fousseyni Drame had 12, Matthew Lee finished with 11 and Doug Edert added 10 to give SPU five players in double figures for the first time this season.
Drame joined Ndefo with a double-double as he added 10 rebounds to mark the first time the Peacocks have had multiple players with a double-double in the same game since Ndefo and Cameron Jones accomplished the feat against Lafayette on Nov. 7, 2018.
On the defensive end, Ndefo's 11 blocks are tied for the second-most ever in a MAAC game, behind only Fairfield's Deng Gai who had 13 in a contest against Siena on Jan. 22, 2005.
How it Happened
- Trailing 6-4 early on, Quinnipiac made the first run of the game scoring 10 of the next 12 points to take a 14-8 lead.
- After the Peacocks were able to chip away at the deficit and take a 26-24 edge on a made basket from Banks III, the Bobcats rattled off nine straight points to re-take the edge 33-26, their largest lead of the contest.
- SPU closed the half with four straight points of their own to cut the deficit down to 35-32 after a pair of free throws from Jaylen Murray to head into the break trailing by three.
- The Peacocks came out of the locker room on fire using a 17-1 run fueled by two 3-pointers from Lee, another by Edert and a pair of layups from Hassan Drame to take a 51-38 edge at the under-16 media timeout.
- QU looked to claw their way back into the contest as Tyrese Williams knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to make the score 55-48 with 9:29 remaining.
- Banks III answered, however, with a big 3-pointer of his own and Fousseyni Drame added a putback bucket to grow the lead from seven back to 13 at 61-48 in just under 1:30 of game time.
- The Peacocks were able to keep the Bobcats at arms-length for the final eight minutes of the half, holding a double-digit lead the entire time until a QU 3-pointer cut the deficit to 78-70.
- Ndefo's two free throws as well as four more by Murray sealed the game late and gave SPU an 83-74 win.
Inside the Numbers
- Dating back to the 2019-20 season, the Peacocks are now 5-1 against the Bobcats in the last six meetings.
- With his 11 blocks, Ndefo becomes just the fourth player in MAAC men's basketball history to have double-digit blocks in a MAAC contest. He is now averaging 2.56 blocks per game, tops in the conference and 26th in Division I.
- Ndefo was also fantastic from the free throw line in the win, going 8 for 10 from the stripe.
- SPU outrebounded QU 36-33 in the contest led by the 10 boards from Fousseyni and six more by Hassan.
- The Peacocks were on fire from downtown in the game, going 9 for 15 from deep while also shooting 51.6 percent from the floor.
- On the other side of the ball, SPU held the Bobcats to just 37.3 percent from the floor and blocked a total of 15 shots.
- Banks III was the team's leading scorer with 16 shooting 5 for 9 overall and a perfect 3 for 3 from 3-point range.
- Nine different Peacocks scored in the contest marking the 12th straight game SPU has gotten contributions from at least eight different players.
- SPU is now 7-2 in their last nine games dating back to the start of the 2022 calendar year.
From the Sidelines (Head Coach Shaheen Holloway and Senior KC Ndefo)
Next Up
- The Peacocks will play in their second home contest as a part of a four-game homestand Sunday afternoon against Marist at 2:00 p.m.
- SPU defeated the Red Foxes 69-62 on the road in January earlier this season.
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