Kelly's runner in final seconds lifts Quinnipiac past Columbia

Rich Kelly's go-ahead drive with less than five seconds remaining in regulation broke 87-all tie and provided winning margin for Bobcats at Columbia, capping 22-point, 10-assist night for the freshman point guard. (Photo by Quinnipiac University Athletics)

NEW YORK -- In his time as an assistant to Jay Wright at Villanova, Baker Dunleavy had the opportunity to develop a Who's Who of all-Big East Conference point guards the likes of Maalik Wayns, Ryan Arcidiacono, and Jalen Brunson.

Now the head coach at Quinnipiac, his latest protege appears poised to continue the tradition.

Freshman point guard Rich Kelly, already well on his way to a trial-by-fire rookie campaign by virtue of the Bobcats' thin bench and youthful roster, belied his tender age Monday night, blowing past Columbia in the final seconds of regulation with a driving layup even upperclassmen would struggle with, putting the finishing touches on a double-double and an 89-87 Quinnipiac victory over the Lions at Levien Gymnasium.

"We just made one more play," Dunleavy said of Kelly's heroics, which completed a night where the first-year guard led five Bobcats in double figures with 22 points and supplemented his offense with 10 of the team's 16 assists as Quinnipiac (3-6) atoned for a deflating loss at Lafayette two days prior. "I think the main thing was really the clock. We wanted to make sure we got as close to the last shot as possible, so we drained it down. He's the guy we wanted with the ball in his hands. They did a great job of denying the shooters, so it was the right play to take the layup. That's the most important thing to me, whether he scored or not, is that he was able to make the right play, and he did."

WATCH: Rich Kelly's game-winning layup (Footage by Jaden Daly, Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Columbia missed a three for the win, and @QU_MBB walks away with an 89-87 win on Rich Kelly's game-winning drive, which you can see below: #MAACHoops pic.twitter.com/5ecPw7KMop

— Daly Dose Of Hoops (@DalyDoseOfHoops) December 5, 2017

"The play was drawn up for Chaise (Daniels) to come up and slip it and set a screen for Drew Robinson to come off for a three," Kelly admitted of the wheels that put his star turn in motion. "My defender was overplaying it, so I couldn't really use the slip. I crossed over and he overplayed that."

Through the opening minutes, it seemed as though the Connecticut native's offense may have proven to be a non-factor, as Columbia (1-7) got out of the blocks to a blazing start, opening up a 14-5 lead before five minutes had elapsed, prompting Dunleavy to call a timeout to rally his troops. It would be the largest lead the Lions would enjoy over the course of the night, however, as Quinnipiac battled back on a 21-10 run to steal the edge on the scoreboard, with the first of Kelly's six three-pointers splashing through the net to swing the pendulum in favor of the Bobcats by a 26-24 count. For the remainder of the evening, neither side would hold a cushion greater than six points, as Columbia's 44-38 advantage was pared down to a more tenuous 48-46 count by the visitors at the end of the opening stanza.

The second half was largely a seesaw battle, with both teams keeping the game within one possession before seven straight points by the Lions put the home team in front by a 77-72 score with just under eight minutes to play in regulation. Quinnipiac would surge once more, keying a 7-2 spurt fueled by Cameron Young and freshman Jacob Rigoni, whose 20 points were a career-best, to knot the proceedings at 79 apiece with 5:08 on the clock.

Columbia accounted for six of the next eight points, opening up an 85-81 lead on Nate Hickman's three-pointer with 4:08 left to play, but his triple was immediately answered by Kelly to pull the Bobcats within one. A Hickman jumper extended the Lions' advantage to three on the next possession, and after almost two minutes of a defensive stalemate, the last of Kelly's half-dozen trifectas and 17th for Quinnipiac as a whole sent Monday's affair into an 87-all deadlock heading into the final 87 ticks of regulation.

The two teams traded missed shots on their next possessions before a Lukas Meisner three was too strong, falling into the arms of Isaiah Washington, who quickly dished to Kelly, allowing him to advance the ball past the halfcourt stripe so that Dunleavy could use his last timeout to set up what turned out to be the deciding play after Mike Smith's attempt at a buzzer-beating three-pointer grazed the rim at the horn.

"The fact that they made ten threes in the first half was something that concerned me," Columbia head coach Jim Engles assessed with regard to the Bobcats' outside shooting, something that his Lions were unable to overcome despite six players posting 10 or more points, Smith's 20 being the high water mark. "It was one of those games, I think, where you needed one stop here or there hoping that someone would miss a shot at one point so you would just get the ball back."

The morale in the visiting locker room, however, was one of elation, and one in which a nascent floor general earned the first of what will undoubtedly be many stripes on the field of battle.

"We knew he was going to have some good games coming up," said Dunleavy. "He's been open to coaching, he hasn't gotten overly frustrated. He's just kept pushing. He's a really good player, he's a leader and he's smart. He's got a will and a toughness about him, and it's starting to show."