Dayton, Ohio – The Duquesne University men's basketball team had its winning streak halted at five Saturday as Dayton posted a 78-66 victory at UD Arena. The Dukes slipped to 16-11 (.593) overall during the 2025-26 season, including 8-6 (.571) in the Atlantic 10.
 
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Junior forward Jakub Nečas took a feed from junior guard Jimmie Williams and scored with a layup early in the second half that helped the Dukes pull to within 42-41, and after a three-pointer by Javon Bennett of the Flyers, senior forward David Dixon connected for a pair at the stripe to again make it a one-possession game, 45-43. Dayton responded with a 9-2 run to open up a 54-45 edge with 13:32 to play as De'Shayne Montgomery and Amaël L'Etang each connected from beyond the arc to bolster the Flyers. Guard Brandon Hall would stem the tide for Duquesne with a layup, but a dunk from Montgomery and a three-point play by Jordan Derkack would extend the lead to double digits for Dayton (18-9 | 9-5 Atlantic 10), 59-47, with 11:49 to go. The cushion for the Flyers would eventually swell to 69-53 with just over five minutes remaining after another dunk, this one courtesy of Keonte Jones.
 
QUOTABLE
"We got beat off the dribble," head coach Dru Joyce III said. "We defend with five, and everyone has to be engaged and doing their job. Everyone has to see man and ball. If you're doing that, maybe some of those drives don't happen. Even what (Dayton) did earlier this season, it's a totally different attack offensively. Can we guard it better? Absolutely, but if you dive in and look at the numbers, we did a decent job of guarding. Turnovers, offensive rebounds kept us on defense even longer, and ultimately being late and allowing them to get to the free-throw line hurt. We can sit down and guard, but no matter how well you're defending, when you allow transition runaway baskets, that changes the game."
 
STRAIGHT LINE
The contest featured 56 visits to the free-throw line among the two teams, with Dayton converting as many free throws (24) as Duquesne attempted. Each team was successful on 75 percent of its chances as the Flyers finished 24-for-32 and the Dukes 18-of-24. That aspect Saturday almost mirrored the first game of the 2025-26 season series, when Dayton made more free throws (23) than Duquesne finished with attempts (22) in a 71-65 victory at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse last month.
 
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"When the game starts to get controlled at the foul line, it does chop up the game," Joyce III said. "Ultimately, you're not getting stops. For the most part they did a solid job of at least making one of those free throws. It slows the game down and allows them to get into their press, which is where they would like to play. It makes things challenging. We have to do a better job of defending without fouling."
 
ARC HAPPENINGS
Duquesne, which connected for just a trio of three-pointers, a season low, in a 62-61 win over LaSalle (Feb. 17), used the long ball to stay within striking distance in the opening 20 minutes against Dayton. The Dukes finished 7-for-10 from downtown in the opening 20 minutes, including a 3-for-5 performance from senior guard Tarence Guinyard, who scored a team-high 16 points. The script flipped in the second half, with Duquesne just 1-for-11 from deep as the Dukes closed 8-for-21 (38.1%) overall. Duquesne also suffered 13 turnovers in the setback while forcing just eight as Dayton owned a 15-3 edge in points off turnovers.
 
NOTES
In addition to the 16 points from Guinyard, Dixon chipped in 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Williams scored 10 and grabbed six boards … Forward Alex Williams, in a return to his hometown, scored all nine of his points in the first half and also tied Guinyard with four assists … The Dukes have lost 13 consecutive games at UD Arena dating back to 2012 and have also dropped eight straight to the Flyers during the regular season … L'Etang posted a double-double for Dayton with 17 points and 10 rebounds … The Flyers owned a 34-33 edge in rebounds despite being outrebounded on the offensive glass, 13-11 … Dixon, who moved into a tie for fourth place all-time in program history for games played (123) with Sean Johnson (2010-13), appeared in his 100th consecutive game Saturday at Dayton … Of Dixon's seven rebounds against the Flyers, five came on the offensive glass … The contest featured three ties and six lead changes.
 
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns home to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Wednesday, Feb. 25, for a 7:00 p.m. tip against Davidson.
 
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