Richmond, Va. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team concluded the road portion of its 2023-24 regular season Tuesday, earning a 69-59 victory over VCU at the Siegel Center. In picking up their third consecutive win, the Dukes improved to 19-11 (.633) overall during the 2023-24 season, including 9-8 (.529) in the Atlantic 10.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Sean Bairstow converted in the paint early in the second half to give VCU a 41-38 advantage and help the Rams erase a four-point deficit at halftime. The Dukes stemmed the tide with an 8-0 run to grab a 46-41 lead, as senior guard
Jimmy Clark III tied the game with a three-pointer, forward
David Dixon provided a dunk and senior guard
Dae Dae Grant added a triple of his own to propel Duquesne. VCU (19-11 / 11-6 A-10) closed to within 46-44, but the Dukes answered again, getting a three-point play from forward
Jakub Necas, a layup in transition from forward
Matúŝ Hronský and a dunk from forward
Fousseyni Drame to extend their lead to 53-44. The Rams called timeout after the flush from Drame, but two more triples from Grant and another from Clark III helped keep VCU at bay.
QUOTABLE
"When you can come into this building and win, you've done something," head coach
Keith Dambrot said. "It's a hard place to play. We went in understanding that if the game was going to be high scoring we weren't going to win. We slowed it to a walk at times and sometimes we would get out and run. I was proud of our guys. They maintained their composure and we made plays when it mattered. We won the game on the defensive end again."
THE LONG GAME
Joe Bamisile gave the Rams a 20-19 lead with a three-pointer at the 5:53 mark of the first half before the Dukes used a 7-0 spurt to grab a 26-20 advantage. Sophomore guard
Kareem Rozier pushed Duquesne in front by converting a pair of free throws, freshman guard
Jake DiMichele converted a driving layup on a dime from forward
Tre Williams and, off a Rozier steal and drop pass, Grant buried a long three-pointer. Grant scored 10 points in the opening 20 minutes of action to help the Dukes own a 31-27 advantage at halftime.
GRANT ONE WISH
Leading the way for Duquesne was Grant, who scored a game-high 26 points. He shot 8-of-17 from the field, including 5-for-11 from beyond the arc, and also was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw. He supplied the dagger with 14 seconds to go, burying a triple as the shot clock was winding down to give the Dukes their largest lead of the contest, 69-56. Duquesne also got 10 points from DiMichele, who returned to the starting lineup after a one-game absence. He missed time in the first half with an injury but came back and scored seven points in the opening 20 minutes to help boost the Dukes.
QUOTABLE
"Shout out to my teammates as well as our coaching staff, because we're just continuing to gel," Grant said. "We got it done by just really focusing on the defensive end, knowing that if we lock in and get stops we'd be able to win the game. We continue to lay our hats on the defensive end, and it's paying off."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Grant pushed his career total in scoring with the Dukes to 970 thanks to his performance at VCU, leaving him 30 points shy of becoming the 40th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points at Duquesne. In five seasons at the NCAA Division I level, Grant has scored 2,141 career points. Clark III, despite having his streak of double-figure scoring games snapped at seven by finishing with nine points against the Rams, pushed his career point total at the NCAA Division I level to 979, including 849 in two seasons with the Dukes. Combined, the duo enter the final home game of their respective careers at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Saturday having scored 1,819 points the last two seasons with the Dukes.
UP NEXT
Duquesne closes out its regular season Saturday, March 9, against George Washington, in a 2:00 p.m. tip at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse 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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