Huntington, W.Va. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team snapped a nine-game losing streak in road non-conference games Wednesday, earning an 85-72 victory over Marshall at the Cam Henderson Center. The Dukes improved to 6-2 (.750) overall during the 2023-24 season thanks to the win.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Trailing, 12-7, in the first half, Duquesne used a 14-0 surge to open up a 21-12 advantage with 7:55 to go before the break. Senior guard
Jimmy Clark III scored eight points and also added a dime with a feed to sophomore forward
Halil Barre for a dunk during the burst. Clark III finished with 19 points in the opening 20 minutes of action to bolster the Dukes, shooting 6-for-7 from the field, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, while knocking down three of his four attempts at the free-throw line.
QUOTABLE
"We played hard," head coach
Keith Dambrot said. "We couldn't quite put them away at the end, but we did a good job hitting our free throws when we needed them. There were certainly some times tonight we missed some shots around the basket, but we'll make those as the season goes on. Jimmy was really the key for us in the first half. He put us on his back during that run, and It's good to see our inside guys helping out with production."
TRANSITION
Duquesne grabbed its biggest cushion of the contest with 11:51 remaining, as a block from sophomore forward
David Dixon led to a fastbreak for the Dukes. Sophomore guard
Kareem Rozier fed forward
Fousseyni Drame, who drove to the basket for the layup to give Duquesne a 56-43 advantage. The Thundering Herd scored the next five points of the game to close to within 56-48, but a pair at the free-throw line from senior guard
Dae Dae Grant got the lead back to double figures, 58-48.
FORWARD MARCH
Forward
Andrei Savrasov continued his solid play for the Dukes Wednesday against the Thundering Herd, scoring nine points in the first half and finishing as one of four players in double figures. He finished with 14 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, shooting 4-for-5 from the field while also going 6-for-7 at the free-throw line. Savrasov was 3-for-4 at the stripe during a stretch in the second half in which Duquesne went to the chalk six times in seven possessions. The Dukes finished 11-for-12 in a span of just over four minutes to help keep Marshall (2-6) at bay.
NEEDED IT
Coming out of the final media timeout of the contest, Grant picked a good time to knock down his first three-pointer of the contest. It came with 3:37 to play and again gave the Duquesne a double-digit lead, 73-63. Grant added a floater in the lane on the next possession for the Dukes and finished with 16 points. Despite a 3-for-10 performance from the field, Grant finished 9-for-10 at the free-throw line. Clark III paced the Dukes overall, matching a season high with 24 points while also registering four rebounds and three assists.
RECORD BREAKER
Thanks to his performance at the stripe, Grant etched his name into the Duquesne record book. Grant converted 43 consecutive opportunities at the free-throw line before missing his final attempt of the contest with 48 seconds left. Grant breaks a record that had stood for over 60 years. Dave Ricketts (1954-57) converted 42 straight at the chalk during the 1956-57 campaign.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Duquesne picked up its first road victory in non-conference play since Dec. 12, 2015, a 67-65 win over Saint Francis U in Johnstown, Pa., at the Cambria County War Memorial. The victory was also the first for Dambrot in a non-conference road game as head coach of the Dukes.
UP NEXT
Duquesne hosts Saint Peter's at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Friday, Dec. 8, for a 7:00 p.m. tip. Fans that stick around for an autograph session with student-athletes after the game in the Gilliand Pavilion receive a free team poster.
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