Brooklyn, N.Y. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team advanced to its first Atlantic 10 Championship final since 2009 Saturday with a 70-60 victory over No. 7 seed St. Bonaventure at the Barclays Center to close out semifinal action of the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship. The Dukes, who stretched their winning streak to seven with the victory, improved to 23-11 (.676) overall and will meet No. 5 seed VCU Sunday at 1:00 p.m. for the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Senior guard
Dae Dae Grant gave the Dukes a 48-37 lead with 9:08 remaining with a floater in the lane, but the Bonnies used a 13-2 run to close to within 50-46 with just under three-and-a-minutes to go. Grant came through for the Dukes to stem the tide, as his off-balance attempt from beyond the arc on the wing in front of the Duquesne bench hit banked in to stretch the lead to 53-46. Out of the final media timeout of the contest, freshman guard
Jake DiMichele was left alone on the near wing and drained a triple to push the advantage to 56-48, and after a three-pointer by Assa Essamvous for St. Bonaventure (20-13), senior guard
Jimmy Clark III answered with one of his own from deep. Clark III helped seal the win, as his driving layup with 1:51 left while drawing contact for the foul and subsequent three-point play extended the lead to 62-53.
QUOTABLE
"We have a very tough group," head coach
Keith Dambrot said. "We've been through a lot. A lot of people quit on us. When you start 0-5 and you have fairly high expectations, a lot of bandwagon jumpers get out. Our guys really just rallied around each other. We're going to grind it out on the defensive end. Our toughness level really improved when DiMichele started to play."
ARC
Duquesne finished 6-for-13 from beyond the arc in the first half in grabbing its biggest lead in the opening 20 minutes, 21-13. Overall in the contest the Dukes were 10-of-21 (47.6%) from deep, including a 6-for-9 performance from Grant. On the other end, St. Bonaventure shot just 25 percent (6-for-24) from three, including 1-for-8 in the first half. Duquesne entered the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship having led the conference in three-point field goal percent defense (.295) against league foes and in the last three games have held Saint Louis, Dayton and St. Bonaventure to just 30 percent (21-for-70) from beyond the arc.
QUOTABLE
"Coach harps on the defensive end and guarding the three-point line," Grant said. "Not fouling, as well. We continue to just focus on defense and keep that the main theme. Not worrying about offense and when things are going wrong we'll just be fine if we defend. We just stuck to the way we play and kept that confidence to gut out that win for the third time."
DOUBLE NICKEL ON A DIME
Duquesne finished with 17 assists on its 27 field goals, with Clark III (6) and Grant (3) combining for nine while not turning the ball over. Clark III put together another complete performance, contributing 18 points, tying a career high with eight rebounds, dishing out six assists and registering three steals and a block. Grant, meanwhile, eclipsed the 20-point plateau for the ninth time this season and 20 times in two seasons with the Dukes with a game-high 27 points. Grant shot 10-for-15 from the floor and was true on his only attempt from the free-throw line.
QUOTABLE
"Our main focus was staying physical and fight it out," Clark III said. "It's not a position we've haven't been in before. Throughout the season we've had some tough games. We had a tough schedule. That prepared us for moments like these just to be able to grind it out, fight through and make the right play, every play going down the stretch."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Duquesne finished 27-for-53 from the field in the win, a success rate of 50.9 percent. It marks the fourth time in the last nine games the Dukes have converted at least 50 percent of their shots from the field, including the second time in the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship. Duquesne is 7-1 (.875) during the 2023-24 when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor. DiMichele also scored in double figures for the Dukes against the Bonnies with 12 points, converting five of his seven shots, including 2-for-3 from deep.
UP NEXT
Duquesne and VCU tip at 1:00 p.m. Sunday from the Barclays Center in a game that can be seen live on the CBS Sports Network.
FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest news and information on Duquesne men's basketball, follow the Dukes on Twitter (X) and Instagram.
