Olean, N.Y. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team opened a two-game road swing Saturday with a 75-69 victory over St. Bonaventure at the Reilly Center. In securing their first season series sweep of the Bonnies since 2009, the Dukes improved to 14-9 (.609) overall during the 2023-24 season, including 4-6 (.400) in the Atlantic 10.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Mika Adams-Woods hit the front end of a pair of free throws with 2:10 to play to help the Bonnies close to within 61-54. On the ensuing possession for Duquesne, senior guard
Dae Dae Grant took a pass on the wing and drove the baseline, converting a floating layup with 1:41 remaining to help keep St. Bonaventure (14-9 / 5-6 A-10) at bay and push the lead for the Dukes to 63-54. Adams-Woods came back with a three-pointer for the Bonnies, but Duquesne converted at the stripe, going 10-for-10 in the final 1:15 of action, including a 6-for-6 performance from Grant. Sophomore forward
David Dixon put an exclamation point on the victory with 45 seconds left as the Dukes broke the press and his flush extended the lead to 69-63.
QUOTABLE
"It's a good win for us," head coach
Keith Dambrot said. "This league is wacky. Everybody's pretty much the same in a lot of regards, and how you match up is pivotal as to whether you can win or not. We got off to a good start, and that was key. We knew what we had to do, and that was neutralize Venning and cover the three line. I thought we did a really good job of that until the end. We shared the ball tonight as good as we've had all year, too. We've been harping on it and harping on it. We still took a couple bad ones, but overall I though we moved the ball well. That was another big key."
DYNAMIC DUO
The pair of guard
Jimmy Clark III and forward
Fousseyni Drame combined for 17 points in the first half as Duquesne grabbed a 36-23 edge at the break. Clark III knocked down three of his five attempts from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes and also handed out five assists, while Drame was successful on each of his two shots from deep. Tied, 19-19, Clark III buried a triple to push the Dukes in front, which was the start of a 15-2 run that opened up a 34-21 edge for Duquesne. Clark III added another three-pointer during the burst, while Drame scored five and sophomore guard
Kareem Rozier added four. Defensively, the Dukes held St. Bonaventure to 1-of-10 shooting during the run, including 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Drame continued his solid production off the bench Saturday against the Bonnies, notching his third double-double of the 2023-24 campaign with 16 points while matching a career high with 14 rebounds. He paced the Dukes in scoring and grabbed 14 boards for the first time in over three years. He originally established the personal best against Niagara in December of 2020. The effort from Drame highlighted a Duquesne bench that scored 33 points, the fifth consecutive game the reserves have scored at least 30 points. The Dukes are 4-1 (.800) in that stretch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
In addition to the double-double from Drame, Clark III finished with 15 points and matched a season high with eight assists. The eight dimes were as many as St. Bonaventure finished with as a team, while the Dukes racked up 16. Grant added 12 points for Duquesne on the strength of his 6-for-6 effort at the free-throw line, extending his streak for consecutive free throws to 27.
UP NEXT
The Dukes wrap up a two-game road swing with a trip to Dayton, Ohio, Tuesday, Feb. 13, for a 7:00 p.m. against Dayton at UD Arena.
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