Fairfax, Va. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team opened a two-game road swing through Virginia Saturday with a 59-51 victory over George Mason at EagleBank Arena. The Dukes improved to 18-11 (.621) overall during the 2023-24 season and, after an 0-5 start to Atlantic 10 play, have evened their conference record at 8-8 (.500).
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Jared Billups converted in the lane on an alleyoop from the baseline to give George Mason a 46-43 cushion with 4:04 remaining, but Duquesne used an 8-0 run to jump in front, 51-46, and force the Patriots to call timeout. Forward
Fousseyni Drame provided a dunk before the Dukes went to work in transition, as a layup from
David Dixon, a jumper from guard
Dae Dae Grant off a steal and a layup from guard
Jimmy Clark III gave Duquesne a five-point lead with 2:22 left. Darius Maddox, who led all scorers in the game with 22 points, trimmed the game to one possession with a three-pointer, and after Grant hit a pair at the stripe and Billups scored again in the paint, a turnaround jumper from Dixon with 41 seconds to play pushed the advantage for the Dukes to 55-51. Duquesne sealed it at the free-throw line, with Grant and guard
Kareem Rozier each hitting a pair in the final 30 seconds.
THE EARLY BURST
Amari Kelly missed a layup for George Mason on its first attempt from the field, but the Patriots converted each of their next six shots in building a 14-2 lead at the 13:50 mark of the first half. Maddox was the main offensive force for GMU, scoring eight points, including a three-pointer. The Dukes slowly chipped away, closing to within 14-10 after a three-pointer from forward
Jakub Necas. Maddox answered on the next possession for George Mason with another triple as he scored 11 points in the opening 20 minutes of action. The Patriots eventually owned a 24-21 edge at halftime but after opening the contest 6-for-7 from the field in the first six minutes finished just 12-of-41 (29.3%).
FIVE AGAINST ONE
Down 12 early in the first half, the deficit marks the largest the Dukes have erased during the 2023-24 season. The game featured two ties and 11 lead changes, with Duquesne grabbing its first advantage, 25-24, when Grant buried a jumper and forward
Dusan Mahorcic hit a layup to open the scoring in the second half. The Dukes fell behind by 11 with 7:57 to go in the first half, 27-16, of an eventual
66-62 win over UC Irvine at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse and also trailed by 10 with 15:10 remaining, 52-42, against Bradley in Akron, Ohio,
before posting a 69-67 triumph at Lebron James Arena.
FOR STARTERS
Duquesne used its eighth different starting lineup of the 2023-24 season against George Mason, as Rozier and Mahorcic were inserted back into the first five. For Rozier, it marked his first start since a
65-60 win over Chicago State, while Mahorcic was a member of the starting lineup for the first time since at Dayton. Clark III remains the only member of the Dukes to start each of the 29 games for Duquesne this season. Saturday against the Patriots, Clark III reached double figures for the seventh consecutive game with 12 points while also adding four rebounds, two assists and four steals.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
A game after missing his only attempt at the free-throw line to snap a streak of 46 consecutive conversions at the stripe, Grant finished 4-for-4 against the Patriots. He paced the Dukes in the victory over George Mason (18-11 / 7-9 A-10) with 13 points and also added three steals. Drame contributed 10 points off the bench for the Dukes on the strength of a 6-for-6 performance at the chalk as the bench for Duquesne outscored the reserves for the Patriots, 24-2. The Dukes continue to get a spark from their bench, as a student-athlete has scored in double figures as a reserve in 10 of the last 11 games, including six occasions from Drame. Duquesne has also won 25 consecutive games dating back to 2019 when holding foes under 60 points in a game.
UP NEXT
Duquesne travels to Richmond, Va., Tuesday, March 5, to take on VCU in a 7:00 p.m. tip at the Seigel Center before returning home to close out the regular season Saturday, March 9, against George Washington, for the
Chuck Cooper Classic. Get two tickets for $25 using the promo code
CCC2024 as the Dukes will host the Revolutionaries for Senior Day.
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