Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's basketball opened its 2024-25 season and the
Dru Joyce III era Monday with a 77-72 setback to Lipscomb at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
The Bisons opened by connecting on nine of their first 11 shots from the field in building a 26-10 advantage in the first nine minutes of the contest. Jacob Ognacevic, who missed the 2023-24 season due to injury, sparked Lipscomb (1-0) with seven points during the opening salvo, while Gyasi Powell and Will Pruitt each contributed six points. The Bisons were 5-of-6 from beyond the arc in the opening spurt and finished 9-for-21 (42.9%) overall from three. Ognacevic was the main offensive force throughout the contest, dropping a career-high 30 points while also grabbing 10 rebounds for a double-double in the season opener.
QUOTABLE
"You have to give credit where it's due," Joyce III said. "Lipscomb played well tonight. That's a good ballclub and, I think, they were able to pretty much control the flow of the game offensively. It put us in peril, especially with the way they shot the ball from the five spot. There's a lot of growth that still needs to happen. We're a new team. This is everyone's first year playing for me, no matter if they've been here before. It's going to take us some time to gel. What I do like most about our team is we got hit right in the mouth early. At home. We got down big, but we stuck together and raised our level of play. We fought. If we step up and make some free throws in the first half, that score looks a little bit different. Really throughout the game. We shot poorly from the free-throw line and three-point line."
DIGGING OUT
Lipscomb grabbed its biggest lead of the contest with 8:39 to go in the opening half, 32-14, after a triple from Miles White. Duquesne chipped away, closing to within 41-34 at halftime by closing the opening stanza on an 18-9 surge. Senior forward
Jahsean Corbett contributed eight points, while redshirt junior guard
Maximus Edwards added six. Junior forward
David Dixon opened the scoring after the break with a layup off a feed from sophomore guard
Jake DiMichele to help the Dukes close to within 41-36, but a 9-2 spurt allowed the Bisons to push their lead back to double digits, 50-38.
THE NEW RECRUITS
Guard
Tre Dinkins III buried a three-pointer with 5:38 left that pulled Duquesne to within 65-62, and after an offensive foul on Lipscomb, the Dukes couldn't convert. Ognacevic answered for the Bisons, burying a jumper to help keep Duquesne at bay. Dinkins III added a pair of three-pointers in the waning seconds of the contest and led the Dukes in his debut on the Bluff with 16 points off the bench. He shot 6-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-6 from deep. Each of the three Dukes to finish in double figures Monday were making their debut in a Duquesne uniform, as Edwards missed a double-double by a rebound with 14 points and nine caroms, while Corbett contributed 12 points and six boards.
QUOTABLE
"We have to get off to a better start defensively," junior guard
Kareem Rozier said. "This group isn't going to back down. When you cut it three like that in the second half, winning teams win those kinds of games. You have to run it up there and just go score. We just couldn't score down the stretch, but it shows we have some fight."
NOTES
Duquesne dropped its first season-opening game at home since 2005-06, a 64-56 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff … Lipscomb converted 52.1 percent (25-of-48) of its shots overall … The Dukes finished 28-of-62 (45.2%) from the floor but were 4-of-13 (30.8%) from the free-throw line in the first half and converted 52.6 percent (10-of-19) overall at the chalk … DiMichele contributed nine points off the bench in 21 minutes of action, while sophomore forward
Eli Wilborn scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting while grabbing six boards and posting a block and a steal.
UP NEXT
Duquesne travels to Trenton, N.J., Friday, Nov. 8, for an 8:30 p.m. tip against Princeton as part of the Deborah Heart and Lung Center Jersey Jam, presented by the Gazelle Group, at CURE Insurance Arena.
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