Jan. 23, 2010

By Mike Prisuta

Welcome back.

To Melquan Bolding, who drained the three that beat St. Bonaventure.

To Damian Saunders, who made the pass to Bolding off a drive to the basket on what became the shot that fell with 3.4 seconds remaining. Saunders had limped off the Palumbo Center court with 10:56 remaining but returned at the 10:05 mark. His pass to Bolding added a second assist to a night that included 15 points and nine boards.

To the Dukes, who won for the first time in a month and snapped a five-game losing streak that was threatening everyone's sanity.

And to Bill Clark, too.

He was 0-for-2 from three-point range in his return from a one-game exile due to a secondary NCAA violation, which means Clark's shot is still A.W.O.L.

But the charge he took with 40.2 seconds remaining and Duquesne trailing, 68-66, proved as critical as any play down the stretch in what became a heart-stopping, 70-69 triumph.

"I thought Bill Clark did about as good a job defensively as we've had done here at Duquesne," head coach Ron Everhart said. "Even though we had to sit him for a while with four fouls I thought he made a lot of sacrifices for the team. Sooner or later B.C.'s shots are going to start falling and he's going to be back to the old Bill. But it's funny, when we win basketball games here, since he's gotten here, it always seems like he does something down the stretch or during the course of a run that we need desperately.

"I thought (taking the charge) might have been the play that turned the whole game around to give us a chance. It took large stones for that kid to stand in there and take that charge in the chest as fast as that guard (Michael Davenport) was driving the ball. That's pretty much who Bill Clark is, he's that guy.""

Clark's performance from three-point range against St. Bonaventure dropped him to 8-for-54 since the second half of the Pitt game on Dec. 2.

But the confidence in him remains to the extent that Everhart actually admonished Clark at one juncture for passing up an open shot.

That was about the only thing Everhart didn't like about the way Clark competed against St. Bonaventure.

"He's always coming up with great defensive plays," Everhart said. "He gets his hands on a lot of balls, rebounds the ball well, gets out in transition. He shut down Davenport. He locked up (guard Chris) Matthews when we needed a stop. He was jumping all over the place. When we had to guard (forward Da'Quan) Cook, who is 6-foot-9 and 225 (pounds) he was right there.

"On the other hand, people won't walk out of here talking about Billy as an offensive player (10 points, including 4-for-4 from the line). But he made some sacrifices to get off ball screens and pop, to turn and make passes, set screens. He had one play where we needed a basket real bad and he screened and popped and caught it and drove it to the baseline and finished it.

"Maybe on some occasions as a coach you take it for granted because he's kind of become a part of the landscape around here. You expect Bill Clark to do certain things. But even though he's struggling offensively the son of a gun is defending and doing everything he can to help you win."

Including taking a charge against an oncoming freight train with his team down two and less than a minute remaining.

"There aren't a lot of kids in Division I basketball that have stones large enough to take that charge," Everhart said.

Clark remains as frustrated as anyone over his inability to score from long range with his accustomed regularity.

But you'd never have known that Saturday night.

"He didn't pout about it," Everhart said. "He didn't worry about it. He got back on defense. He just played ball.

"That kid's been a 40-percent three-point shooter for his career here, plain and simple. And the fact of the matter is if he shoots enough of them he's going to be a 40-percent shooter again."