Duquesne basketball bounces back to rout Fordham
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Duquesne’s 86-62 victory against Fordham on Wednesday night in the Bronx serendipitously coincided with Chad Baker’s 21st birthday.
He scored 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from beyond the 3-point line (23 overall) to help the Dukes rout Fordham in a game that was not as close as the 24-point margin indicated.
The Dukes led by 35 with 11 minutes left on the way to their most decisive all-time road victory in an Atlantic 10 game. Fordham played a day after coach Jeff Neubauer left the team and was replaced by interim coach Mike DePaoli.
But the numbers and circumstances are less important than what it meant to Baker, who was serenaded by teammates and coach Keith Dambrot with an off-key, but most appreciated, version of “Happy Birthday” after the game.
“It was amazing, every single second,” he said of the song and the game.
Afterward, Dambrot spoke of his 6-foot-7 freshman guard’s potential, setting the bar incredibly high.
Dambrot coached LeBron James in high school, and Wednesday he threw Baker’s name in the same sentence with, perhaps, the greatest basketball player of all-time.
“LeBron’s going to be good Wednesday and Saturday,” Dambrot said. “Chad will be good Wednesday and average on Saturday. I just named him in the same sentence, so that’s what I expect from him.
“He’s just scratching the surface. He’s a guy who should be the best defender, should be the best passer, should be the best ball handler, should be the best shooter. As crazy as it sounds, he’s underachieving. But I have high expectations for talented people. When he finally decides he’s going to start working at this game and put everything he has into it, you’ll see something even better than this.”
Dambrot said when Baker, a native of the Dominican Republic, learns to temper his enthusiasm, he’ll be an even better player.
“I talk to him every day about being more disciplined, not losing his enthusiasm, but having better discipline,” Dambrot said. “We have a good relationship. Not all of them listen to me like he does. He drives me nuts sometimes, but he generally listens.
“I don’t think he’s worked at the game like he should. He has to become even a more solid individual, both on and off the court. Less moods, more consistency.”
Baker said he’s determined to be a willing pupil.
When Baker first arrived on Duquesne’s campus, Dambrot sat down with him and asked, “Do you want to be great?”
He answered, “I left everything back home to make it.”
“I’m really going to be hard on you,” Dambrot warned.
“Coach,” Baker responded, “do what you have to do to take it to that next level. If you’re going to get in my face, even if I’m right, I’m going to take it. I cannot take that personally.”
When he was telling the story to reporters on a zoom call, Baker said, “He’s pretty hard, even though sometimes he’s not 100% right. But he always has some true stuff to say.”
Baker had the lead role in the victory, but he received plenty of help, especially from seniors Marcus Weathers and Michael Hughes.
Weathers scored 19 points, with 12 rebounds and two steals for his 13th career double-double. Hughes had a full stat line while recording his third double-double in a row (13 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals).
Freshman Toby Okani had 11 points, and senior Tavian Dunn-Martin, playing 22 minutes with a bad back, added eight points and seven assists. Freshman Mike Bekelja made his first start and hit two 3-pointers as part of Duquesne’s 14.
The victory was Duquesne’s second this season against Fordham (1-8, 1-8) and raised its record to 5-6, 4-5 in the conference. Duquesne had 48 at halftime after winning only, 48-45, on Jan. 9 at La Roche.
Dambrot hopes the victory can direct his team toward a strong second half of the season.
“I think it’s good for us,” he said of winning decisively. “We have to use it to catapult in becoming a better team, a more consistent team. A team that starts to believe in itself a little bit.
“Now, I really believe, if everything goes right and we can show some maturity, we can do some good things.”
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