Dukes Continue Road Trip In Miami - Duquesne University Athletics

Dec. 26, 2002

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Florida International's New Year's Classic
Friday-Saturday, Dec. 27-28, 2002
Miami, Florida

DUQUESNE (3-7) vs. ST. FRANCIS, N.Y. (2-4)
Friday, Dec. 27, 2002
6:00 p.m. (EST)
Golden Panther Arena (5,000)

DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.redzonemedia.com

DUKES GO FROM PUERTO RICO TO MIAMI

Duquesne continues its holiday road trip with an appearance in the FIU New Years Classic hosted by Florida International University. The Dukes, who are coming off three games at the San Juan Shootout, have been away from home since Dec. 19. The team flew from Pittsburgh to San Juan on the 19th, and moved on to Miami on Christmas Eve.

DU's opponent in the first round of the Classic is St. Francis, N.Y. (2-4). Note: previously published material listed Duquesne's first round opponent as Radford. FIU (4-6) hosts Radford (2-7) in the other first round game at approx. 8:20 p.m. The two winners will meet in the tournament final following a consolation game on Saturday. Both Duquesne games will air locally on KQV-AM (1410) and on the world wide web at www.redzonemedia.com.

LONG TRIP

The Dukes began their trip with a win over Sacred Heart (74-63) followed by a pair of losses by a total of five points to Troy State (69-73) and Denver (48-49) at the Puerto Rico Shootout.

Duquesne senior guard Kevin Forney was named to the Shootout All-Tournament team. Forney averaged 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in the three games. He also shot 52.9 percent (18-34) from the field.

NEW LINEUP FRIDAY

Head Coach Danny Nee will have a new starting quintet when the Dukes face off against the Terriers in the opening game of FIU's holiday tournament. Senior forward Brad Midgley and junior forward Elijah Palmer will start with senior guard Kevin Forney and sophomore forward Simplice Njoya coming off the bench.

DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY TENTATIVE STARTERS VS. SACRED HEART

Name

Pts

Reb

Hometown

Quick Facts

Ron Dokes

6-9

Jr.

11.8

4.6

South Bend, Ind.

JC transfer has topped 20 two times: 29 vs. WVU & 21 vs. Mt. St. Mary's

Brad Midgley

6-5

Sr.

6.0

3.1

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Team-best 96 games played; leads team with 13 steals

Elijah Palmer
or

6-7	Jr.	5.2	5.1	Marshall, Mo.	JC transfer second on team with a 5.1 rebounds per game
44	G	Jimmy Tricco	6-8	Jr.	12.1	3.5	Phoenix, Ariz.	Gonzaga transfer has hit at least five three's in a game two times this season
22	G	Bryant McAllister	6-3	Fr.	8.0	2.2	Pittsburgh, Pa.	A-10 Rookie of the Week averaging 15.0 ppg. as a starter (3 games)

Off the bench

#	P	Name	Ht	Yr	Pts	Reb	Hometown	Quick Facts
20	G	Kevin Forney	6-4	Sr.	11.0	3.6	Philadelphia, Pa.	Named to the San Juan Shootout All-Tournament team; team-high 54 career starts; shooting 52.4% (11-of-21) from behind the arc
14	F	Simplice Njoya	6-10	So.	7.5	5.2	Yaound?, Cameroon	Had 15 points and 15 rebounds in San Juan Shootout win over Sacred Heart (12/20)
32	G	Tyler Bluemling	6-2	So.	3.4	1.4	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Played in all 28 games last season; averaged 17.7 minutes per game at San Juan Shootout
42	F/C	Chris Clark	6-10	Sr.	0.8	1.6	Toronto, Ontario	Second on team to Forney with 24 career starts; had season high 4 rebounds in nine minutes vs. Cleve. St.
1	G	Aly Samabaly	6-3	So.	0.4	0.0	Bamako, Mali	Saw action in 23 games as a freshman; has played in four games this season
00	C	Derek Ahern	6-10	Jr.	Andrews AFB, Md.	2.0	2.0	Saw first action of the season against Maryland scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds in four minutes

ON SAINT FRANCIS, N.Y.

St. Francis has been idle since an 89-76 loss at Long Island on Dec. 15. The Terriers have yet to play a home game this season. They are led by 6-2 senior guard Bronksi Dockery who is averaging 20.8 ppg. on just over 15 field goal attempts per game. Six-seven forward Cliff Strong is averaging 14.5 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game for the Terriers. St. Francis is averaging 75.8 ppg.. The Dukes are 4-1 all time vs. the Terriers.

SECOND ROUND

Duquesne will face either Radford (2-7) or Florida International (4-6) in the second round.

Radford, a member of the Big South Conference, is coming off a two-game Ohio road trip with losses at Akron on Dec. 21 (97-62) and at Ohio State on Dec. 23 (96-80). The Highlanders, who have lost five in a row, are 1-5 on the road this season with a 64-63 win at William & Mary. RU is coming off a season-high 80-point game at Ohio State. Radford is averaging 59.4 ppg. and hadn't topped 67 points in a game prior to the OSU game.

Host Florida International, who began the season with four consective victories, is in the midst of a six-game losing streak. The Panthers, who are 3-1 at home this season, are coming off an 83-48 loss at Washington on Dec. 21. FIU has played two Atlantic 10 schools this season, losing to George Washington at home (77-63 on Dec. 3) and losing at Massachusetts (67-62 on Dec. 14). Six-two JC transfer Junior Matias leads FIU at 14.4 ppg. Six-seven forward Eulis Baez, who was a teammate of Matias' at Southeastern (Iowa) Community College last season, is averaging 14.2 points and a team-high 8.4 rpg. for the Panthers.

BACKCOURT MOVE PAYS DIVIDENDS

Duquesne head coach Danny Nee inserted freshman Bryant McAllister into the starting lineup at the point guard spot for the San Juan Shootout and the move has paid immediate dividends. The 6-3 McAllister responded by averaging 15.0 ppg. on 51.5 percent shooting (17-of-33) in three games at Puerto Rico, while senior guard Kevin Forney, who had started the first seven games of the season at the point, averaged 14.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and shot 52.9 percent (18-of-34) from the field. Forney, who averaged 4.7 turnovers in seven games at the point, turned it over eight times (2.7 per/g.) at the Shootout. Both were honored for their efforts as McAllister was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the week of Dec. 14-21 and Forney was named to the San Juan Shootout All-Tournament Team.

HALFWAY THERE

The Dukes have led at the half in seven of 10 games this season, including the last six games in a row. The only games DU has not led at intermission are at then-#5 (AP) Pitt (down 33-29), vs. Cleveland State (down 34-30) and at then-#11 (AP) Maryland (down 50-19).

DUQUESNE QUICK NOTES

JC transfer Ron Dokes' 29 points vs. West Virginia on Nov. 25 were the most by a Duquesne big man since Derrick Alston scored 30 vs. Detriot Mercy in the first round of the 1993 MCC Tournament. The 6-10 Alston was taken in the second round (33rd overall) of the 1994 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and played three seasons for the Sixers and Atlanta Hawks. He is currently playing professionally in Spain.
Dokes, 6-9, hit 8-of-11 shots from the field (including four dunks) and 13-of-18 from the line vs. the Mountaineers. Dokes added 21 more vs. Mount St. Mary's on Dec. 7. Dokes, who has been hampered lately with a bruised left knee, is shooting 48.3% from the field and 75% (30-of-40) from the free throw line.
Entering the season, Duquesne had just one player on its roster with a 20-point game in Division I play (Kevin Forney).
6-8 guard Jimmy Tricco, a first-year transfer from Gonzaga, has also reached the 20-point mark with 20 at George Mason. Tricco has led the Dukes in scoring three times and assists four times in 10 games. Tricco's career scoring high entering the season was 13 set at Boise State during his sophomore season at Gonzaga. He's hit five three-pointers in a game twice this season (5-of-10 vs. Cleveland State and 6-of-8 at George Mason). Hhe shot 34.8% (8-of-23) from the experimental 20.6 3-point arc at San Juan; 68 of his 98 field goal attempts (just under 70%) have come from beyond the 3-point arc. Tricco's six three-pointers at GMU were the most by a DU player since Courtney Wallace hit 6-of-11 from long range vs. La Salle on Feb. 20, 1999
Senior swingman Brad Midgley has come off the bench to be a major contibutor for the Dukes. The 6-5 Pittsburgh native is second on the team in assists (20) and leads the team with 13 steals in just under 23 minutes per game. He made his first start of the season (Palmer out with tendinitis in knee) vs. Mount St. Mary's
Sophomore power forward Simplice Njoya posted his second career double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds vs. Sacred Heart in the first game of the San Juan Shootout, and followed that with back-to-back scoreless outings vs. Troy State and Denver (0-of-9 in the two games). The 6-10 Cameroon native has been slowed by foul trouble; although he has fouled out just once, Njoya has finished seven other games with four fouls
JC transfer Elijah Palmer, who missed the Mount St. Mary's game due to tendinitis in his left knee, is tied for the team lead (with Njoya) with 18 offensive rebounds. His 5.1 overall rpg. average ranks second on the squad.

ON THE GLASS

The Dukes have outrebounded just two of their first 10 opponents, coincidentally both were victories: DU outboarded West Virginia 38-32 in an 86-82 win over the Mountaineers; Duquesne also enjoyed a 46-36 margin on the glass in a 74-63 win over Sacred Heart.

IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION

Duquesne is 149-165 (.475) in non-conference play since 1976-77 as members of the Eastern 8 / Atlantic 10 and Midwestern Collegiate Conference (1992-93 season only). The Dukes posted a winning record in non-conference play four times in the 1990s (6-4 in 1996, 8-4 in 1994, 7-5 in 1993 and 7-4 in 1992). The Dukes went 5-6 in non-conference play in 2001-02 and are 3-7 this season.

ON THE ROAD

DU went 2-11 on the road last season (not including a neutral-site loss to Pitt). The Dukes snapped a 22-game road losing streak with a 68-61 win at West Virginia, and a 20-game Atlantic 10 road skid with a 72-69 win at Rhode Island. The Dukes showed marked improvement on the road in league play with a 96-89 OT loss at St. Bonaventure and a 55-51 defeat at Richmond. Duquesne led St. Bonaventure 76-70 with 1:48 left, and held a 51-50 lead at the 1:33 mark at Richmond. DU is 0-3 on the road this season.

REDSHIRT PLANS

Duquesne head coach Danny Nee has tentative plans to redshirt junior forward Jon Pawlak and freshman guard Mike Spadafora. Technically, a non-participation redshirt may only be granted at the conclusion of the season only if a student-athlete does not represent DU in a contest.

Could Pawlak and Spadafora play this season? Yes. Will they? Not if everything goes as planned. If either Pawlak or Spadafora were to appear in any game against outside competition (which included the two exhibition games), they would forfeit the opportunity to redshirt.

The 6-9 Pawlak saw action in all 28 games last season. He averaged 4.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in just over 19 minutes per game. Spadafora, who attended Philadelphia Archbishop Wood High School, is a non-scholarship player this season.

NEXT UP

Following the 10-day road trip, the Dukes return to Pittsburgh to face Maryland-Eastern Shore on Dec. 31 at 1:30 p.m. The UMES game is the final non-conference game on the 2002-03 schedule. Classes at Duquesne resume on Monday, Jan. 6, 2003.

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Bryant McAllister

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