GAME 13
Cleary (5-7) vs. Duquesne (7-5)
Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)
 
Stream: ESPN+ with Tim Benz (pxp) & Ellis Cannon (color)
Radio: 104.7 HD2 | iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) (pxp) & Noah Buono ('22) (color)
 
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Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team closes its 2025 non-conference schedule Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. tip against Cleary at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
- The Dukes are coming off a 103-59 victory over Canisius (Dec. 22) in their last outing as five players scored in double figures.
 
- Junior guard Jimmie Williams hit his first 10 shots from the field against the Golden Griffins and set career highs in both points (24) and assists (7) while adding six rebounds. He shot 10-of-12 from the field, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.
 
- Senior guard Tarence Guinyard added 21 points and established a career high with nine assists against no turnovers in the win over Canisius. He enters Saturday's game ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in assists (5.4 per game) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.41).
 
- Also reaching double figures in the win over the Golden Griffins were redshirt senior forward Alex Williams, who scored 15 points off the bench, and redshirt senior guard Cam Crawford and junior forward Jakub Nečas, as each finished with 12 points.
 
- Duquesne enters Saturday's game ranked fourth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring offense (85.3 ppg) and second in field goal percentage (.503), trailing only Saint Louis (.510). The Dukes also rank 27th in NCAA Division I in both field goal percentage and effective field goal percentage (.579).
 
- The 2025-26 season marks the 110th year of Duquesne basketball. The Dukes started play in 1913-14 (DU did not field a team in 1944-45-46 due to World War II). Thanks to an 83-63 victory over Niagara (Nov. 3) in its 2025-26 season opener, Duquesne earned program victory No. 1,500.
 
- In today's day and age of college basketball with the NCAA Transfer Portal, Duquesne offers senior forward David Dixon, who will play his final season with the Dukes in 2025-26 and has spent his entire career on the Bluff. Dixon, 6'9" and 230 pounds, owns career totals of 637 points and 462 rebounds and is just the second player in program history to eclipse career totals of both 100 blocks and 100 dunks.
 
- Dixon is one of just four players in the Atlantic 10 this season that have spent their entire career with one program, joining 6'10" forward Sean Logan of Davidson, 6'10" forward Christian Fermin of VCU and 6'11" center Mike Walz of Richmond. Ironically, each of the four student-athletes to have played their entire career at one institution are post players.
 
- Redshirt senior guard Maximus Edwards scored 10 points in a 92-80 win over Sacred Heart (Nov. 7) to reach exactly 1,000 points for his career. Named the 2023 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, Edwards scored 722 in two seasons at George Washington before transferring to the Bluff and has scored 355 points in his time at Duquesne. He owns a career scoring average of 10.2 points in 106 games at the NCAA Division I level thanks to 1,077 points.
 
- Duquesne opens Atlantic 10 action to close out the 2025 calendar year Tuesday, Dec. 30, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Davidson at John M. Belk Arena in Davidson, N.C., after hosting Cleary.
 
At The Helm – Dru Joyce III was named the 18th head coach in the 110-year history of Duquesne basketball March 28, 2024, and in his second year at the helm in 2025-26. He owns an overall record of 20-24 (.455) in his first head coaching job. Joyce III, a native of Akron, Ohio, spent two seasons as associate head coach for the Dukes under Keith Dambrot from 2022 to 2024, helping guide Duquesne to an overall record of 45-25 (.643), including a 20-16 (.556) mark in the Atlantic 10, during that span. The Dukes made an appearance in the 2023 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) before earning the automatic bid for the A-10 in the 2024 NCAA Championship by winning four games in five days en route to the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship crown in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the Barclays Center. Duquesne, as a No. 11 seed, made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1977 and earned its first victory in the championship since 1969 thanks to a 71-67 win over No. 6 seed BYU in Omaha, Neb., at CHI Health Center Arena. 
 
Scouting the Cougars – Member of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) ... Located in Howell, Mich., and a member of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) ... Saturday marks the third meeting in the all-time series and the third consecutive year the Cougars and Dukes will meet on the hardwood ... Duquesne has won each of the previous two meetings, each by 48 points ... Last season the Dukes jumped out to leads of 6-0, 13-3 and 29-7 in the first 11 minutes of the contest and never looked back, converting 61.3 percent (38-of-62) of their attempts from the floor as five players scored in double figures en route to a 93-45 win Dec. 27, 2024 ... Junior forward Jakub Nečas led Duquesne in the win last season with a career-high 15 points ... Also scoring in double figures in last year's win over the Cougars were Eli Wilborn (14), Cam Crawford (12) and Kareem Rozier and Jahsean Corbett, who each scored 10 points ... In the first meeting between the two programs Dec. 30, 2023, Duquesne earned a 93-45 triumph, which marked the 100th win for head coach Keith Dambrot on the Bluff ... Dusan Mahorcic and Jimmy Clark III each scored 15 points to pace the Dukes in the first-ever meeting with Cleary, while David Dixon contributed 12 points ... Cleary is led by Carl Thomas (Eastern Michigan '91), who is the first head coach of a program in its third season of competition ... Thomas played for Dambrot while he was a student-athlete at Eastern Michigan and also spent five years as an assistant coach with the Dukes prior to taking the job at Cleary ... The Cougars are 5-7 (.417) overall this season and are coming off an 87-73 win over Lourdes (Dec. 17) ... Senior guard Bennie Crenshaw, Jr., averages a team-high 11.3 points per game and is also Cleary's leader in assists with 36, an average of 3.0 per contest ... Senior forward Nick Ellis contributes 9.8 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game.
 
Canisius Leftovers – The Dukes improved to 11-6 (.647) all-time against the Golden Griffins ... Duquesne shot 59.7 percent (37-for-62) from the field, including 45.7 percent (16-for-35) from beyond the arc ... The 16 three-pointers are the most in a game in two seasons under head coach Dru Joyce III as well  as the highest total since a 17-for-32 (53.1%) performance in a 93-67 win at George Washington (Feb. 4, 2023) ... Guards Jimmie Williams and Tarence Guinyard combined to shoot 73.9 percent (17-for-23) from the floor, including 60 percent (9-for-15) from deep ... Guinyard (9) and Williams (7) also combined for 16 assists against just two turnovers ... The Dukes matched a season high with 57 points in the second half (Central State) ... Duquesne fashioned a 38-18 advantage in points in the paint as well as a 21-9 cushion in points off turnovers ... Canisius held a 32-30 edge in bench points ... Redshirt sophomore guard Ethan Anish scored the first points of his NCAA Division I career, hitting both of his attempts at the free-throw line with 28 seconds to play that settled the final score ... The Dukes owned a 34-27 edge in rebounding, including a 7-6 cushion on the offensive glass ... Duquesne led for 38:43.
 
100 – Off to one of its best offensive starts this century, Duquesne reached the 100-point plateau for the second time this season with a 103-59 victory over Canisius (Dec. 22) to open a two-game homestand to conclude the non-conference portion of its 2025-26 schedule. The Dukes also hit 100 points in a 101-80 triumph over Central State (Nov. 26). It marks the first time Duquesne has reached 100 points in game at least twice in a season since the 2010-11 campaign, when the Dukes eclipsed the mark twice in the first four games of the year. The last time Duquesne scored at least 100 points three times in a season came in 2007-08, a year the Dukes averaged 82.3 points per game.
 
Five Against One – Multiple Dukes have the ability to put the ball in the basket on a consistent basis, and in a 103-59 victory over Canisius (Dec. 22), five players scored in double figures. It marks the fifth time this season five Dukes have scored 10 or more points in a game as well as the fifth time in the last 10 outings. Duquesne is 3-2 (.600) this season when five players score 10 or more points in a game.
 
Distributing – Senior guard Tarence Guinyard not only has proven to possess the ability to score the basketball, but he's just as good at distributing, as well. Guinyard missed his first career double-double by just an assist in a 103-59 victory over Canisius (Dec. 22), contributing 21 points and a career-high nine dimes. More importantly, Guinyard didn't suffer a turnover in the win against the Golden Griffins. He enters Saturday's game against Cleary ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in assists (5.42 per game) as well as third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.41). Duquesne is 6-1 (.857) this season when Guinyard posts at least five assists in a game. Guinyard and junior guard Jimmie Williams are tied for team-high honors in double-figure scoring games this season with 10 each, and Guinyard owns a team-high four games reaching the 20-point plateau after his performance against Canisius. He also ranks fourth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (16.3 ppg) and is the only player in the conference to rank in the top five in scoring, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. 
 
Night of the Comet – While junior forward Jakub Nečas has been a key factor for Duquesne in the post in recent weeks, arguably turning into the most consistent scorer for the Dukes is junior guard Jimmie Williams. In the opener of a two-game homestand, a 103-59 win over Canisius (Dec. 22), Williams converted each of his first 10 shots from the field and finished 10-for-12 overall in scoring a career-high 24 points to pace Duquesne. Williams enters Saturday's game against Cleary having scored in double figures in seven consecutive games, producing averages of 17.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.9 steals per contest while shooting 59.2 percent (45-for-76) from the field and 88.2 percent (15-for-17) at the free-throw line. Williams ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 in steals (1.83 per game) and sits just outside the top 10 in scoring at 14.6 points per game, which ranks 11th. Since opening his Duquesne career just 2-for-7 at the free-throw line in the first three games of the year, Williams has converted 20 of his last 23 opportunities (87%).
 
Castling – As Duquesne concludes its 2025 non-conference slate Saturday against Cleary, junior forward Jakub Nečas is in the midst of his best stretch of basketball on the Bluff. Over his last seven games, Nečas has provided the Dukes with averages of 10.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals. He's also been efficient during that stretch, shooting 65.8 percent (25-for-38) from the field, including 45.5 percent (5-for-11) from deep, and 78.3 percent (18-for-23) at the free-throw line. Nečas continues to knock on the door of his first career double-double at Duquesne, as well. In a 78-75 setback at Nevada (Dec. 13), Nečas matched a career high in rebounds (10) while scoring seven points and adding four assists. Duquesne owns a record of 9-4 (.692) since the beginning of the 2023-24 season when Nečas scores in double figures.
 
The Big Three – Over the last seven games, the trio of guards Tarence Guinyard and Jimmie Williams and junior forward Jakub Nečas have combined to average 40.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 3.6 steals per game while shooting 55.6 percent (100-for-180) from the floor. 
 
Did You Know? A member of the Dukes has scored at least 20 points in a game on 10 occasions this year, as in addition to four from senior guard Tarence Guinyard, junior guard Jimmie Williams has reached the mark three times. In 32 games last season under first-year head coach Dru Joyce III, Duquesne had 10 efforts of 20 or more points. Guinyard and Williams each eclipsed the 20-point plateau in a 103-59 victory over Canisius (Dec. 22), with Williams scoring a game-high 24 points and Guinyard adding 21.
 
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