‘We’re still a family’: QU men move past coaching upheaval, dig in together to take down Rockhurst

QUINCY — The extraneous noise that could have disrupted the Quincy University men’s basketball team’s season dissipated by the time Thursday night’s game rolled around.

The Hawks weren’t going to listen anymore anyway.

“Once the ball was rolled out there tonight, it was just play,” junior forward Adam Moore said. “It was just basketball. It’s what everyone has been doing since they were a kid. It was a relief for sure knowing no matter what the situation is around us we’re still playing the same game.”

Quincy played as unobstructed as it has all season.

A sizzling start to the second half in which Moore hit three 3-pointers in the first 2½ minutes allowed Quincy to extend its lead to double digits and hodl Rockhurst at arm’s length the rest of the game, finishing off an 86-80 victory in Great Lakes Valley Conference at Pepsi Arena.

“We played pretty loose,” sophomore guard Paul Zilinskas said. “That’s what (interim coach Pat Richardson) told us. He said to play loose and play our game and we’re going to win.”

After a tumultuous week, the QU players needed to relax.

Last Friday morning, QU head coach Ryan Hellenthal and assistant coach Kevin Reynolds were fired with four games remaining in the regulation. Richardson was named the interim coach and graduate assistant Troy Potts took on an expanded coaching role.

Meanwhile, the players had to adjust to and embrace the fact the final stretch of the regular season was going to be uniquely different.

“It’s been a tough week for everyone,” Zilinskas said. “No one was expecting something like this to happen in the middle of the week. It’s been a hard thing for everyone, but we’ve moved past it. We came together a little more, and we showed that on the court today.

“We’re still a team. We’re still a family. We’re going to go out and finish the season strong.”

That point was driven home when the QU players and coaches trudged through Thursday’s deep snow to have a shootaround ahead of the game.

“We rallied around each other today at our shootaround and realized we have a chance still,” Moore said. “We’ve been playing good basketball. No matter how these last three or four games go, we’re still going to have a chance in the tournament.

“If we want to have a chance, we’re going to have to play as a team. That’s what we did tonight and that’s why we won.”

Quincy (13-14, 6-11 GLVC) shot 50 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from 3-point range, making 14 of 26 treys. Better yet, Quincy had 17 assists on 27 field goals and committed just 12 turnovers.

Zilinskas finished with a career-high nine assists, to go along with a team-high 20 points and a 9-of-9 showing at the free-throw line.

“We just trusted each other,” Zilinskas said. “There was no pressure on us. There were no nerves. It was just go out and play our game. We shot really well from the 3-point line. We shared the ball. We made the extra pass. Overall, it was just teamwork. We worked together to be able to win.”

Moore benefitted from that as much as anyone. He went 6 of 8 from 3-point range and finished with 18 points. His treys were the byproduct of ball movement and teammates recognizing when he was open and getting him the ball in shooting position.

All he had to do after that was make them.

“I was telling my family that I had not been shooting it well all week,” Moore said. “I came out tonight and everything was falling for me. Sometimes that’s how it goes, and luckily it was on a night we had a game.”

Nate Shockey added 18 points for Quincy, which finished 18 of 20 from the free-throw line. Rockhurst forward Nick Volz scored 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but Rockhurst (10-17, 5-12 GLVC) shot just 13.3 percent from 3-point range and had only four assists.

“I think we just came out there and played free and it showed on the stat sheet with 17 assists,” Moore said. “We played with each other, and at this point in the season, that’s how you’re going to win games. That’s what got us the win there.”

It brought some vibes back, too.

“It was fun just to go out and play with my teammates,” Zilinskas said.