Moore, Bobcats suffer heartbreak

Hamden - In the minutes following a heartbreaking defeat Wednesday, Tom Moore did something nearly as difficult as leading Quinnipiac to the doorstep of its first NCAA tournament berth in his third season as Division I head coach.

Moore tried to console his inconsolable players.

He hugged senior star James Feldeine, who needed help from teammate Justin Rutty to make it back to the bench as Robert Morris celebrated a 52-50 victory and its record seventh Northeast Conference tournament championship.

He walked over to emotionally drained James Johnson, who collapsed on the floor after a halfcourt heave fell well short at the buzzer. Tears continued to flow in the locker room.

"It kills you," said Moore who spoke with a hoarse voice and sported red eyes. "It just tears your heart out. It's very difficult. … They've got an incredible belief in themselves and that we're going to keep winning. I shared that belief. … They were stunned the last minute and a half worked out the way it did unfortunately."

Feldeine, who scored a game-high 17 points, broke down during the postgame press conference.

"These are my brothers, man," Feldeine said. "We fought through so much. Nobody out there thought we'd be here except the team and everybody surrounding this program. … I wanted this so bad for our team, for coach Moore, for everybody."

Neither team led by more than six points. Tournament-tested Robert Morris (23-11) earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by making big plays in the final minutes and locking down on defense. Freshman Velton Jones hit an off-balance runner in the lane to put the visitors ahead for good, 50-48, with 1:17 left.

Then Robert Morris senior Dallas Green blocked Feldeine's 3-point attempt with 10 seconds remaining and hit a pair of free throws at the other end to basically seal the win. The Bobcats shot just 34.8 percent and made just six field goals in the second half.

"We battled with our grit and our heart and our emotion and tried to play off the crowd as much as we could," Moore said. "Right to really inside a minute, I thought we'd win the game."

Quinnipiac walked away with a nice consolation prize - the program's first postseason berth. Winning the regular season championship, the Bobcats (23-9) are guaranteed a spot in the NIT. The university community wrapped their arms around the program, filling the TD Bank Sports Center with a record 3,607 rowdy fans despite students being on spring break.

"Boy, I'm drained from it…," Moore said. "It was a great feeling. I felt like a proud father. It was hard to balance coaching and X's and O's and preparation when I heard this arena and saw this atmosphere. I felt happy for these kids and proud to be coach of this program.

"I was really proud of this night, proud that we are here and how Quinnipiac showed up. I'm hopeful there will be more of these nights and they'll be able to leave here happy."

Reaching the NEC tournament championship game, the Bobcats took another major step forward in building a consistent winner, something that Moore knows all about from his 13 years on coach Jim Calhoun's staff at UConn.

They're clearly on the rise with Moore, the NEC coach-of-the-year, at the helm. They won at Robert Morris, 87-79, Feb. 20, to get into position to secure the top seed and host the conference tournament final.

Moore arrived at a Quinnipiac program badly in need of major rebuilding. He had faith it could be done in three short years.

"This program is set up to be one of the best programs in the league year in and year out," Moore said.

His family was there to share the special moment. During pre-game introductions, Moore waved to his three girls and wife Eileen sitting in the stands behind the Quinnipiac bench.

"He absolutely loves it here," Eileen said.

g.keefe@theday.com