Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team opened the 2026 Atlantic 10 Championship Thursday with a wire-to-wire victory over No. 10 seed Rhode Island, 67-61, at PPG Paints Arena. The Dukes improved to 18-14 (.562) overall during the 2025-26 campaign and advance to the quarterfinals, where they will play No. 2 seed VCU Friday in a 5:00 p.m. tip.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Less than four minutes into the contest, Duquesne grabbed an 8-3 advantage that forced URI to call a timeout. Redshirt junior guard
Brandon Hall scored three points, junior forward
Jakub Nečas connected from the top of the arc and senior forward
David Dixon converted in the paint at the 16:26 mark of the first half. The Rams used an 8-4 burst to pull within one, 12-11, after a three-pointer from Tyler Cochran, but the Dukes weathered the storm, responding with a 13-3 run to grab their first double-digit lead, 25-14, with 11:01 to go in the first half. Forward
Alex Williams scored eight points during the burst, including three-pointers on consecutive possessions, while guard
Jimmie Williams added five points. Rhode Island (16-16) stayed within striking distance at the break, 35-28, by finishing 7-for-11 (63.6%) from beyond the arc in the first half, including a 5-for-6 performance from Cochran, who matched his career high in three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
QUOTABLE
"Offensively we shared the ball a ton tonight,"
Alex Williams said. "That's something that we've been working on and implementing all year. Just sharing the ball. Guys have the next man up mentality. Guys have been in the gym and staying confident in who they are. I've always been confident in myself. I've always been a gym rat. My coaches and teammates instilling confidence in me has been a huge part of the success."
STRETCH IT OUT
Duquesne took advantage of multiple opportunities to push its lead back to double digits early in the second half, as senior guard
Tarence Guinyard buried a three-pointer after an offensive rebound from Dixon to give the Dukes a 38-28 lead. Guinyard followed with a driving layup to match Duquesne's largest lead of the contest, 40-28, with 17:19 to go. The Rams were able to close to within 48-45 with 10:27 left, as Cochran again connected from deep. Duquesne, however, scored the next eight points of the contest to again stretch its lead to double digits, 56-45, after a pair of free throws from Guinyard, with 7:16 left.
QUOTABLE
"The team that can dig in, really be competitive and value every possession is the team that will find success," head coach
Dru Joyce III said. "I thought we battled with some smaller lineups, and guys stepped up and played big. There were some key stops and key rebounds in there, as well. We completed plays. We finished plays. Tonight we took care of the ball and really had good shots. We had some good opportunities. Keeping that trust and belief in our guys. When adversity is going to hit, who are we going to be? We know we have to be resilient in those times, and I thought that's what we did."
LONG BALL
URI kept up its success from deep in the second half, finishing 8-for-16 after halftime and closing 15-for-27 (55.6%) overall. Cochran led all scorers in the contest, matching a career high with 34 points and also adding 10 rebounds to register a double-double. He shot 12-for-21 from the field, including 9-of-14 from deep. The nine three-pointers tied a Rhode Island single-game record as well as an A-10 Championship mark. Duquesne finished 7-for-24 (29.2%) from deep and got a team-high 22 points off the bench from
Alex Williams, who added eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
Jimmie Williams added 17, while Guinyard scored 14 of his 15 points after the break.
NOTES
Duquesne improved to 3-2 (.600) all-time against URI in the A-10 Championship … The wire-to-wire victory marked the fifth of the year for the Dukes and the first since a 74-63 triumph at Fordham (Jan. 17) … Duquesne dominated in the paint, 32-12, and also outscored the Rams, 14-0, in points off turnovers … The Dukes suffered just one turnover in the contest, which came at the 5:29 mark of the first half … Dixon battled foul trouble and contributed four points, a team-high nine rebounds and two blocks … Dixon also appeared in his 128th career game on the Bluff, establishing a program record … Duquesne outrebounded Rhode Island, 39-38, including a 16-11 edge on the offensive glass … A total of 68.1 percent (15-of-22) of the field goals for the Rams came from beyond the arc … Rhode Island was just 2-for-7 (28.6%) at the free-throw line, while the Dukes were 14-for-25 (56%).
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