Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team posted its first wire-to-wire victory of the 2024-25 season Saturday, earning a 65-47 victory over Towson at Lebron James Arena in Akron, Ohio, at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School for the Morgan & Morgan Classic. In improving to 5-0 at the facility dating back to 2018, the Dukes improved to 3-8 (.273) overall this season.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Using its fourth different starting lineup of the year, redshirt junior guard
Cam Crawford and sophomore forward
Jakub Necas were each inserted Saturday against the Tigers and paid immediate dividends. Crawford scored all of his game-high 13 points in the first half to bolster Duquesne, including a three-pointer at the 8:51 mark of the opening 20 minutes that gave the Dukes a 16-10 edge. Over the final 5:22 before halftime, Duquesne used a 13-2 run to grab a 34-19 cushion at the break. During that stretch, Towson (4-7) failed to convert a field goal while junior forward
Matúš Hronský buried a pair of three-pointers. The second, which came as time expired in the first half, saw Hronský unload 35 feet away from the basket. It found nothing but net.
CLOSE OUT
While Crawford and Necas each gave the Dukes a spark offensively, the two were equally factors defensively. In the opening 20 minutes, the Tigers shot just 17.2 percent (5-for-29) from the floor, making more field goals from beyond the arc (3) than inside (2) it. The 19 points in the opening stanza is tied for the lowest total by an opponent this season, with Old Dominion also scoring just
19 points in the first half against Duquesne at the Cayman Islands Classic. In addition, the 47 points are the fewest allowed by the Dukes since a 48-45 win over Fordham Jan. 9, 2021, in a home game that was played at La Roche University.
QUOTABLE
"I thought we needed to make a change and try and insert some new intangibles into the lineup," head coach
Dru Joyce III said. "The past few games we hadn't gotten off to good starts, and those things matter. I thought Cam and Jakub both had a great first half. They brought size, got in front of the rim and made shots and I thought they were both outstanding defensively. I just want the best for my guys. Tonight, I thought, they had good energy and their juice. We played 40 minutes of basketball from start to finish. Probably our best performance of the early season so far."
TRE THE THIRD FOR THREE
Towson was able to find its offensive rhythm in the second half, closing to within 47-41 with 8:24 remaining thanks to a layup from Messiah Jones. The Dukes called timeout and out of the break hung an 11-2 run on the Tigers to seal the win. Duquesne scored five straight points at the free-throw line before a pair of three-pointers from senior guard
Tre Dinkins III on back-to-back possessions opened up a 58-43 lead. Dinkins III, who finished with 12 points on the strength of a 4-for-7 performance from three, punctuated the win with just over 35 seconds to go with his fourth triple of the contest.
QUOTABLE
"This is my third season playing and my fourth year of college basketball, and I've started five games," Crawford said. "It's not really important to me. As long as we get the win, that's what matters. It was more of us coming out with the intent to have a strong start. That was the focus, and we were able to do that. I feel like every game is a desperation situation. We're not promised anything. Obviously we have nothing to lose at this point, but it's great to get a win, especially in a place like this."
NOTES
Duquesne improved to 6-0 in games played in Akron, Ohio, since 2018, including 5-0 at Lebron James Arena … Joyce III has never lost on the court at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School as a student, assistant coach or head coach … The Dukes matched a season high in three-pointers, knocking down 11 for the second consecutive game and connecting on 42.3 percent (11-of-26) of their opportunities … Hronský and Crawford each finished 3-for-5 from downtown, while Crawford shot 5-of-8 from the field overall … Necas contributed 10 points and four rebounds, becoming the 10th different member of the Dukes to register a double-figure scoring game this season … Duquesne owned a 35-25 edge in rebounding, including a 12-11 cushion on the offensive glass … Junior forward
David Dixon scored all four of his points against the Tigers at the charity stripe, tied for game-high honors with six boards and also rejected three shots, leaving him one block shy of 100 for his career … The Dukes were 12-for-15 (80%) at the free-throw line.
UP NEXT
Duquesne has a week off before opening a three-game homestand at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Saturday, Dec. 21, with a 2:30 p.m. tip against UC Irvine.
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