Duquesne holds on in last-second thriller to defeat St. Bonaventure for 3rd straight win

There has been no shortage of thrilling finishes to games so far this year for Duquesne men’s basketball.

Back on Nov. 21, the Dukes edged North Florida by a point. On Dec. 3, they rallied past Ball State thanks to two improbable buzzer-beating 3-pointers off the arm of Jimmy Clark III.

The end of Saturday’s game against St. Bonaventure at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse was cut of the same cloth as the Dukes won 56-54 when a tying layup by the Bonnies as time expired in the second half was waved off after an official review.

With 2 seconds on the clock, the Bonnies’ Daryl Banks took to the free-throw line for two shots.

After making the first, he strategically missed the second, creating a mosh pit underneath the net for the rebound.

The ball made its way into the hands of Anouar Mellouk, who hit a layup as the buzzer sounded.

Following a brief review, the officiating crew determined that the ball did not leave his hands in time, preserving the Dukes’ victory.

“I was on the court, and I saw it — I thought it was good,” Clark III said. “But then once we started walking back (to our bench), we saw the (replay) monitor, we saw that (the officials) waved it off.”

Saturday’s win is the third straight for Duquesne (17-8, 7-5 Atlantic 10), who entered the game a half-game behind the Bonnies in league standings.

Dae Dae Grant and Clark III tied for the team lead in points with 12 apiece, and Kareem Rozier contributed a career-high 11 points.

Duquesne has more work to do before the end of the year but in continuing to handle business down the stretch of the regular season, the Dukes look to be in a good place.

Still, coach Keith Dambrot, who is up to 501 career victories after Saturday, is keeping his team grounded.

“We’re capable of beating anybody in this league, and we’re capable of losing to anybody in this league, but we’ve improved,” he said.

Defense is where Dambrot is noticing the most improvement, and Saturday, the Dukes’ 15 steals were two shy of the school record and the most in the Dambrot era.

The Dukes forced a total of 25 turnovers by the Bonnies.

“If you look at the defensive numbers, it’s clear we’ve become a good defensive team. There’s no ands, ifs or buts,” Dambrot said. “…We’ve improved. I feel like we’ve improved at just playing together better.”

St. Bonaventure led by as much as 10 points in the first half and made 61% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

Despite the red-hot shooting display, Duquesne managed to hang around, in part elevated by the off-the-bench energy provided by Rozier, who had nine first-half points.

Beginning the second half in a four-point hole, Duquesne retook the lead at the 16:17 mark and stayed in the lead for the remainder of the game.

With 5:02 left, the Dukes led 51-43 following a layup by Austin Rotroff.

For a crucial three-minute stretch, the Dukes got stuck on 52 points, unable to put the final nails in St. Bonaventure’s coffin.

Things looked to be all but secured with 30 seconds left, when Grant hit a pair of free throws to make the score 56-50, but with eight seconds left, Banks drilled a 3-pointer, setting the stage for the final, high-stress sequence.

“It was crazy for sure, but we stuck together,” Rozier said. “We rallied ourselves. We knew that (St. Bonaventure) was going to punch back. They’re a great team, kudos to them, but the team we have, the way we stick together and how we just came together with the camaraderie and connectivity, there was no beating us.”

The Dukes complete their three-game homestand Wednesday evening against St. Joseph’s.