Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team secured its first home victory in Atlantic 10 play Sunday, posting a 76-61 victory over Rhode Island at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Dukes improved to 12-10 (.545) overall during the 2025-26 campaign, including 4-5 (.444) in conference action.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Keeyan Itejere hit the front end of a pair of attempts at the free-throw line with 5:43 to play that helped URI trim its deficit to 59-54, but the Dukes scored the next 11 points of the contest to open up a 70-54 advantage, their largest of the contest to that point, to help secure the victory. Senior guard
Tarence Guinyard helped ignite the deciding run, grabbing an offensive rebound off a missed layup from junior guard
Jimmie Williams and converting to give Duquesne a 61-54 edge. The Dukes followed with five consecutive stops on the defensive end, including a key steal from Guinyard, who intercepted a pass from RJ Johnson and went the length of the court for a layup with 3:49 remaining that opened up a 67-54 edge. Redshirt junior
Brandon Hall capped the burst, burying a three-pointer from the wing just before the shot clock was about to expire.
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"It's not a mystery of what's been happening in our losses," head coach
Dru Joyce III said. "We haven't defended well. This afternoon, I thought we made some progress. The mind set was different.
Tarence Guinyard was picking up full court, and he took initiative tonight. He did it playing 34 minutes, too. That's not an easy task. He did a great job setting the tone, especially in our man-to-man defense. Our zone was strong throughout the game. The shots they did get we were comfortable with, and then we rebounded well out of the zone. If you can control the glass you just give yourself a good opportunity of controlling the possessions."
THE LINE DANCE
Duquesne took advantage of its opportunities at the free-throw line in the win over Rhode Island (13-9 | 4-5 Atlantic 10), hitting on 20 of its 22 attempts, a success rate of 90.9 percent that marks a season high. Williams finished 6-for-6 at the chalk en route to a game-high 22 points and also added nine rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block in extending his streak of double-figure scoring games to 17. Williams took less than five minutes to reach double figures against the Rams, burying a three-pointer at 15:42 in the opening stanza that pushed his total to 11 and helped the Dukes grab a 13-7 lead. It was a stark contrast from the previous game, as Williams was able to keep his streak intact with a floater with under 10 seconds to play as he finished with 11 points against St. Bonaventure (Jan. 28). Redshirt senior forward
Alex Williams and junior forward
Jakub Nečas, meanwhile, each went 4-for-4 at the stripe for Duquesne in the victory.
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"We took pride in defense today," Guinyard said. "It's a big thing we've been struggling with, and we had to dig in and take pride in defending. We emphasized it in practice. Getting back and stopping people in the first seven seconds. Make teams go through their half court and not just scoring in transition. Actually make them move the ball and try to score on offense. We have a lot of good offensive players, but when we defend like we did today, it makes it better on the offensive side. We get all our energy from defense."
THE LINE DANCE PART DEUX
While the Dukes converted at a high clip from the free-throw line, five different players hit at least a pair of three-pointers as Duquesne finished 12-for-27 (44%) from beyond the arc. The Dukes have connected for at least 10 three-pointers in three consecutive games, four of their last five games and five times in nine contests in conference action. Duquesne is 9-3 (.750) this season when hitting at least 10 triples in a game, with Williams leading the way by matching a season-high with four against the Rams. Hall, Guinyard,
Alex Williams and redshirt sophomore guard
Jake DiMichele each hit a pair of three-pointers. Guinyard finished with 14 points for the Dukes in the win and added four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals, while
Alex Williams contributed 12 points and four rebounds off the bench.
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"You build all your habits in practice, whether good or bad," Joyce III said. "Sometimes we become emotional, and we're not recovering fast enough. A lot of what you saw today is how we practiced. We had to be tough regarding defense in practice to get over that hurdle in a game. A huge defensive emphasis went into practice, whether it be half court or transition. It was trying to make sure we play a full 40 minutes of basketball. Hopefully we can continue to build and grow from it. We had a good poise and didn't get rattled while staying true to our game plan. We answered, too. Not just by getting a basket, but by coming down and getting two stops in a row."
NOTES
Duquesne extended its home winning streak against URI to six as well as its winning streak in the all-time series to four … Both the Rams and Dukes posted 10 offensive rebounds, with Duquesne outrebounding Rhode Island overall, 38-28 … The contest featured two ties and one lead change … Myles Corey buried a three-pointer to open the scoring, but a 13-4 run gave the Dukes a lead they would never relinquish … Tyler Cochran scored 18 points to pace URI, while Jahmere Tripp added 15 and Corey 14 … Both Tripp and senior forward
David Dixon fouled out … Dixon did not score by registered three rebounds, an assist and a block … Guinyard buried his 100th career three-pointer at the 18:18 mark of the second half, which gave Duquesne a 40-28 lead ... Each team scored 20 points in the paint … Duquesne's bench outscored the URI reserves, 26-6, while the Rams outscored the Dukes, 17-6, in fastbreak points … Duquesne shot 44 percent (22-for-50) from the field overall and held Rhode Island to a success rate of 38.9 percent (21-for-54).
UP NEXT
Duquesne heads to Fairfax, Va., Wednesday, Feb. 4, for a 7:00 p.m. tip against George Mason at EagleBank Arena.
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