After winning its first game of the season Tuesday against Colgate, the men’s basketball team will look to continue their momentum Saturday night against Quinnipiac (1–1) at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.

The Bulldogs (1–2) will be led by captain and guard Alex Zampier ’10, whose 23.0 points per game lead the Elis. Classmate Jordan Gibson ’10 is also averaging double digits, with 13.7 points per contest.

Forward Mike Sands ’11, assuming a starting role for the first time in his career and coming off a career-high 12-rebound performance in the win against Colgate, will also be a major contributor against the Bobcats.

Yet so far this season, it has been defensive statistics, rather than offensive ones, that have been a more accurate indicator of the Bulldogs’ success. After yielding a 55.6 percent field goal percentage to Sacred Heart in the season opener, the Elis’ opponents’ field goal percentage has gone down in each game. In Tuesday’s win, Colgate managed only 42 percent from the field.

Quinnipiac will look to buck that trend when they take the court Saturday at 7 p.m. The Bobcats are 1–1 on the young season, with a win against Hartford and a loss to Lehigh Wednesday night. They are led into Saturday’s contest by leading scorer James Feldeine, who is averaging 22.5 games through the two games. Collectively, the squad is averaging 78.0 points per game and holding opponents to a 45.2 shooting percentage.

“We were able to put things together tonight,” Zampier said after Tuesday’s win. “In the previous games, we would do some things well, but not others. We can still improve on offensive fluidity and rebounding, and we need to keep our intensity high if we want to build on our success.”

The Bulldogs will get their chance to do just that when they take on the Bobcats Saturday before facing Charlotte, Elon and Army over Thanksgiving break.