Halpern Scorches Quinnipiac Again! Bears Win 87-78
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
There’s something about the sight of the Quinnipiac Bobcats that brings out the best in Tucker Halpern. The Brown sophomore forward scored a career-high 26 points as a freshman last year at Quinnipiac on a dazzling display of shooting including 6 of 13 from beyond the three point arc.
Monday at Brown’s Pizzatola Sports Center in Providence, Rhode Island, Halpern torched Quinnipiac once again by matching his career-high with 26 points. He also pulled down 12 rebounds helping the Bears to an 87-78 win in their final non-conference game of the season.
Quinnipiac came into Monday’s game as the nation’s top rebounding team averaging a whopping 43.8 boards per game. The Bobcats also led the nation in offensive rebounds (17.4/game) and ranked in the top 10 in rebounding margin (+8.7).
After a hard-fought first half, Brown led Quinnipiac 30-29 but the Bobcats had outrebounded the Bears by 7 (20-13). But Brown came out of the halftime locker room on a mission. The Bears shot a sizzling 57% from the field (16-28) including 50% from three (4-8). Brown also continued its season-long display of outstanding free throw shooting by draining 21-26 from the stripe (81%).
But even more importantly, the Bears outrebounded Quinnipiac 22-13 in the final 20 minutes and 35-33 for the game. Rebounding is effort, and Brown’s effort was at its best Monday afternoon.
Senior Peter Sullivan broke out of his offensive slump scoring 22 which included a perfect 12-12 from the charity stripe. Fellow senior Garrett Leffelman netted 16 while freshman Dockery Walker registered a solid 10 points and 8 rebounds.
The win lifted the Bears non-conference record to (7-7) on the year. The 7 wins out of conference ranks third best in Brown basketball history. The 2001-2002 Bears won a program-best 9 games out of conference.
It’s back to Ivy League play from here on out for Brown starting with Saturday afternoon’s match-up with Yale in New Haven.
Brown coach Jesse Agel hopes to get this type of effort from his team throughout league play which would make Brown a tough out in the Ivies.
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