Pittsburgh, Pa. – Senior guard Tarence Guinyard drove the length of the floor and scored at the rim with :00.3 seconds left to lift the Duquesne University men's basketball team to its fifth consecutive victory Wednesday, 62-61, over La Salle at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Dukes improved to 16-10 (.615) overall during the 2025-26 season, including 8-5 (.615) in the Atlantic 10.
 
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Rob Dockery hit a pair of free throws with 2:35 remaining to give the Explorers a 60-54 advantage, but Duquesne closed the game on an 8-1 run to secure the victory. A pair of free throws from senior forward David Dixon ignited the deciding surge, and his rebound after a missed layup from Dockery led to a transition opportunity for the Dukes. Guinyard found junior forward Jakub Nečas, who converted a layup to close the deficit to 60-58 with 1:17 left. La Salle called a 30-second timeout and ran clock out of the break before a jumper from the free-throw line by Jaden Johnson was off the mark. Duquesne went to work again in transition, with Guinyard slashing to the basket and scoring to tie it, 60-60, with 34.3 seconds to go. Out of another timeout by the Explorers, Dockery drew a foul with 6.5 seconds to play in regulation. He hit the front end of his two opportunities, with Dixon pulling down the rebound. He passed to Guinyard, who raced down court and scored just before the buzzer sounded to push the Dukes in front. He was also fouled on the play but intentionally missed the and one opportunity, with a last chance heave from Dockery after the rebound falling short.
 
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"I had a timeout in my pocket," head coach Dru Joyce III said. "I understood if we had enough time to get the ball across the halfcourt line, if I wanted to use it our not, but as I saw the play unfold and them not really find their way in transition, I'm glad I didn't just jump out there and call a timeout. The ball was in our most dynamic playmakers hands, the fastest guy on the court. We'll see what we wind up with. He's made that play throughout games a thousand times over. It just so happens this time it was with three tenths of a second left on the clock."
 
EXPLORING DOWNTOWN
The Dukes matched their biggest lead at the 16:57 mark of the second half, 43-30, after a dunk from Dixon, and a pair at the free-throw line from forward Alex Williams gave Duquesne a 45-37 edge with just over 12 minutes left. La Salle (7-19 | 3-10 Atlantic 10) made a charge, using a 13-2 run to grab a 50-47 cushion with 8:13 remaining. Dockery scored four points during the surge, while Josiah Harris converted a layup off an offensive rebound to give the Explorers a three-point edge. A driving layup from Williams would help the Dukes stem the tide before five consecutive points from Eric Acker, including a three-pointer and a pair at the chalk, gave La Salle its largest lead, 55-49, with 5:51 to go. Dockery would match the six-point edge for the Explorers with his two free throws with just over two-and-a-half minutes left before Duquesne made its final push.
 
DUQUESNE DAVE
Dixon logged his second double-double of the 2025-26 season and third of his career in the victory, finishing with game-high totals in both points (13) and rebounds (10). He also added a pair of blocks in the win, which marked the 74th he has been a part of over the last four years, the most of any player in program history. Duquesne won 92 games from 1951-55, but freshmen were unable to play in varsity games until Jan. 8, 1972. The Class of 2011 for the Dukes, which included former guard Bill Clark and forwards Damian Saunders and David Theis, were a part of 73 victories from 2008 to 2011. The victory over La Salle also marked the 122nd career game for Dixon, which ranks fifth all-time on the Bluff.  
 
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"I just want to publicly thank David Dixon," Joyce III said. "He's genuinely a good person. I get to see it every day. His interaction with teammates, his interaction with people around campus. The adoration that he has for this city, this university, it's rare. I think this is a really big moment as he plays through his senior year. The battles he's overcome. This guy shows up an hour, hour-and-a-half before anyone gets here to work with our trainer, and he does it every single day. That's the opposite of what young guys want to do. He understands the discipline and dedication that it was going to take for him to make sure that he could be successful. We wouldn't be where we are as a program without his dedication and hard work."
 
NOTES
Over the last 25 meetings between La Salle and Duquesne dating back to the 2006-07 season, the Explorers have outscored the Dukes by a total of four points, 1,951-to-1,947 … The Dukes are 3-3 this season in games decided by five points or less, with each of the three victories coming in the last three games … Junior guard Jimmie Williams had his streak of consecutive double-figure scoring games snapped at 20, finishing with five points on 2-for-6 shooting from the field, including 0-for-4 from deep … Alex Williams and guard Brandon Hall each scored 12 points for the Dukes, while Guinyard finished with 11 … It marked the second career double-figure scoring effort for Hall, with the 12 points a career high … La Salle edged Duquesne on the glass, 34-31, including 13-5 in offensive caroms … Each team finished with 18 turnovers, but the Dukes owned the advantage in points off turnovers, 27-18 … Duquesne also outscored the Explorers in the paint, 34-24 … The five-game winning streak for the Dukes in Atlantic 10 play is their longest since a five-game surge during the 2019-20 season.
 
UP NEXT
The Dukes head to Dayton, Ohio, Saturday, Feb. 21, for a 2:00 p.m. tip against Dayton at UD Arena.
 
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