Duquesne rallies, but ends up shouldering tough loss to George Washington
Share this post:
For an instant, Duquesne appeared to have a difficult victory nailed down Sunday against George Washington.
But that instant lasted no more than a second or two, and the Dukes were forced to shoulder a 75-73 defeat in the second of two games in two days at the Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C.
The disappointing sequence of events started when junior guard Sincere Carry, the team’s quarterback at point guard, hit one of two free throws to give Duquesne a 73-72 lead with 47 seconds left.
GW’s James Bishop missed a jumper, and Carry emerged with the rebound. Only 18 seconds remained.
Perhaps waiting to get fouled, Carry committed a traveling violation, giving the ball to the Colonials (3-7, 2-1) with enough time for Bishop to hit a winning 3-pointer.
Marcus Weathers missed a layup at the buzzer, and the Dukes (2-2, 1-1) headed home with their first Atlantic 10 defeat.
“When you have the ball up one and 15 seconds left,” coach Keith Dambrot said, “you can’t turn the ball over.
“I kind of felt like Sin thought he was going to get fouled. That’s why he held it, didn’t call timeout, which I understand that a little bit. But you got to use a timeout if you’re not sure.”
The game was the Dukes’ first this season decided by single digits. Duquesne trailed by 10 late in the first half but rallied to take a 62-60 lead with 8:16 left. After that, neither team led by more than three points.
With practice and games canceled throughout the past month by the spread of the coronavirus, the Dukes might not have been as prepared as they might be later in the season.
“Part of (making mistakes late in a close game) is we don’t get to spend as much time on special situations as we normally would have,” Dambrot said.
But he was encouraged by the effort given by senior forward Marcus Weathers, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds.
“The thing I liked about Marcus is when we struggled, he tried to put us on his back,” the coach said.
Weathers, however, missed seven of 10 foul shots, mirroring the Dukes’ overall struggles at the free-throw line. They were 10 of 23 for the game.
“One of his biggest issues is his motor, and he gets tired, which could have affected his free-throw shooting as well,” Dambrot said. “But his effort was good.
“And the thing I liked was he really didn’t have it. But he rallied himself and really tried to win the game for us. He’s the least of our worries.”
Another positive for the Dukes was the play of sophomore Maceo Austin, who scored 11 points after missing a month with an ear infection and covid issues. Also, Carry contributed a consistent stat line of eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists. His turnover at the end of the game was his fourth while playing 30 minutes.
Senior center Michael Hughes got into foul trouble and recorded just two points and two rebounds in seven minutes before fouling out.
“We’re not going to win many games if Mike Hughes only plays seven minutes,” Dambrot said.