Duquesne hangs on against UMass for win No. 20 on the year
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Duquesne’s victory over Massachusetts on Wednesday evening at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse was significant in two ways.
In dispatching the Minutemen, 88-79, the Dukes notched win No. 20 on the year, something only two previous Duquesne teams (2008-09, 2019-20) had accomplished dating to 1983 upon joining the Atlantic 10.
Presently, the win also keeps Duquesne (20-10, 10-7) alive for a top-four regular-season finish within the A-10, which would hand the Dukes a coveted double bye at the upcoming league tournament in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Given the current tightness within the A-10 standings, the Dukes finishing in the top four requires help from a number of other teams, namely Fordham, which needed to lose Wednesday night at George Mason and also hosts the Dukes Saturday in the Bronx, N.Y., for both teams’ regular-season finale.
George Mason ended up defeating the Rams in overtime Wednesday, setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown between Fordham and Duquesne at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Coach Keith Dambrot and his players will get ready for that contest soon enough but not before soaking in Wednesday’s victory.
“Coach doesn’t really like to talk about it much, but he brings up the fact that last year wasn’t a really good season,” said freshman David Dixon. “We use that as motivation to catapult us to this 20-win season. We intend to use that, looking back, to catapult us to try to get more wins this season.”
Dixon, earning a start against the Minutemen in place of Joe Reece, who was ill, was a primary architect of the win, scoring 13 points with eight rebounds and four steals.
Jimmy Clark III led the Dukes with 18 points, followed by Dae Dae Grant’s 15. Tevin Brewer contributed 11, and Quincy McGriff had 10.
Duquesne built a 16-point lead at halftime, but the cushion nearly evaporated around the under-12 media timeout of the final half.
At that point, having gone through an extended period of ineffective shooting, Massachusetts had crept to within two points.
But down the stretch, Duquesne regained composure.
With just under eight minutes to play, a dunk by Clark put the Dukes up seven points. Shortly thereafter, Grant hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 10 with 7 minutes, 6 seconds remaining.
UMass came within seven points a handful of times in the final two minutes, but the Dukes continued to make baskets and maintain a lead of relative comfort.
“I thought we played a good first half and then just OK the second half,” Dambrot said. “We’ve just been a little erratic. I still think we can play better basketball, and I think down the line, we will.”
On the night, Duquesne shot 46.7% (28 of 60) from the floor.
Massachusetts notably dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Dukes, 43-28.