Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team opened a three-game homestand Tuesday by snapping a five-game losing streak with a 54-50 win over St. Bonaventure at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Dukes improved to 10-8 (.556) overall during the 2023-24 season thanks to the victory, including 1-5 (.167) in the Atlantic 10.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
A defensive slugfest for the second consecutive year in Pittsburgh, Duquesne grabbed its biggest lead of the contest with exactly five minutes to go, when sophomore guard
Kareem Rozier found freshman guard
Jake DiMichele open for a three-pointer to help the Dukes grab a 49-33 lead. The Bonnies responded with a 9-0 run to close to within 49-42 after a layup Barry Evans at the 2:38 mark, and the lead for Duquesne was down to one possession, 50-47, after a pair of free throws from Assa Essamvous with 1:27 left. Forward
Tre Williams missed a three-pointer on the next possession for the Dukes, but senior guard
Jimmy Clark III came up big defensively, stealing the ball off Essamvous with 40 seconds remaining. Duquesne was able to seal the win at the free-throw line, with Clark III going 3-for-4 and forward
Jakub Necas going 1-for-2.
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"It was a shame how the game ended, but we played really good defensively for 95 percent of the game," head coach
Keith Dambrot said. "We just had the jitters, the yips, a little bit in the last four minutes again. We play good defense with this particular group, because we knew we weren't going to outlast them in a finesse game. We just don't score enough right now to win games like that, so we have to win games like this. We did an unbelievable job on (Chad) Venning. Defensively is where we won the game. If you play good defense every night you have a chance."
DEFENSIVELY SPEAKING
A slow start by both teams, Duquesne grabbed an 11-5 lead with 9:09 left in the first half after a three-pointer from Clark III. St. Bonaventure (11-7 / 2-4 A-10) closed to within 11-9 after a jumper from Evans and a layup from Charles Pride, but triples from
Matúŝ Hronský and Clark III helped stretch the lead to 18-9. The Dukes eventually owned a 22-15 edge at halftime, with the 15 points matching the fewest allowed in a half in seven years under Dambrot. Fordham scored just 15 points in the second half as the Dukes posted a 64-41 win over the Rams in the Bronx, N.Y., Jan. 6, 2018. The Bonnies finished just 7-for-31 (22.6%) from the field in the first 20 minutes of action and overall finished at 27.1 percent (16-for-59).
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"Defensively we locked up," Rozier said. "That was our best defensive game. We were locked up for both halves, not just one. The last five games, it built us for this game tonight. We were ready when they went on their run. Down the stretch we missed a few free throws, but at the end of the day even though we missed, we came down and got stops. Down the stretch it was beautiful how we came together, and stuck together, to finish and win the game."
TOP TO BOTTOM
Duquesne failed to have a student-athlete score in double figures in the win Tuesday, with the Clark III leading the way with nine points while also adding three assists, three steals and a pair of blocks. Forward
Fousseyni Drame added eight points and tied for team-high honors in rebounds with seven, while Rozier and DiMichele each scored seven points. The Dukes also got a boost from Hronský, who scored six points, grabbed four rebounds and registered a game-high four assists. It marks the first time Duquesne failed to have a player reach double figures in scoring since Jan. 28, 2015, at Richmond.
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"Emotional well-being in sports is important," Dambrot said. "You could see we were a little fragile at the end of this game. The good thing is, emotionally, these guys have never quit. Think about it, we lost two games in a row by two that we should've won. For sure the Richmond game. We can go back to Santa Clara, up with three-and-a-half minutes to play. We've had our issues. I'm just happy for them because emotionally it's hard to bring them back every single day when you lose close games. It's a tribute to their character that they've just kept battling. Emotional well-being will help us. Now, we've got to continue to win. It could be a good thing for us, but we'll see in the next couple of weeks."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Despite being outscored in the paint, 24-10, the Dukes received 21 points from their bench, the fifth consecutive game Duquesne has received at least 20 points from outside its starting lineup. In their Atlantic 10 opener at Massachusetts (1/3/24), the bench scored 19 points for the Dukes. In conference play through six games the reserves are averaging 23.7 points per contest.
UP NEXT
Duquesne continues a three-game homestand Saturday, Jan. 27, with a 12:30 p.m. tip against Fordham in a game that can be seen live on the USA Network.
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