Saturday afternoon’s showdown between Duquesne and Fordham in the Bronx, N.Y., represented one of the more high-stakes games for the Dukes in recent memory.

On the line for both teams in the regular-season finale was a double-bye at the upcoming Atlantic 10 Tournament, awarded to the top four regular-season finishers in the 15-team league.

A win for the Dukes would have slid them into the No. 4 seed, which would have been their highest finish under coach Keith Dambrot.

Losing to Fordham eliminated that possibility as the Dukes dropped their road contest against the Rams in blowout fashion 87-60.

After leading by as much as eight in the first half, Duquesne (20-11, 10-8) allowed a 13-2 run to the Rams heading into halftime, at which point they trailed by 13.

As the second half got underway, the Dukes were unable to improve their situation.

Fordham increased its lead to 20 with about 13 minutes to play, and from there, things continued to deteriorate for the visiting team.

With that game completed, in addition to George Mason beating Richmond earlier Saturday, the highest Duquesne could have finished in the A-10 was sixth.

Virginia Commonwealth defeated George Washington Saturday evening, locking the Dukes into sixth place.

Davidson then took down Rhode Island , 68-54, in the final A-10 action of the day, finalizing the regular season standings and determining Duquesne’s prospective second-round opponents.

The disappointing loss to Fordham notwithstanding, Duquesne still earned a first-round bye awarded to seeds No. 5 through 7.

As the No. 6 seed, Duquesne will play the winner of the first-round matchup between the No. 11 (La Salle) and No. 14 (Rhode Island) seeds.

Were Duquesne to advance to the quarterfinals, a rematch with third-seeded Fordham would await.

Heading into the tournament, Dambrot is stressing a laid-back attitude among his players, who, at the start of the season, were projected to finish last in the A-10 for the second straight year.

“We’ve just got to let our hair down and play,” he said Wednesday night after Duquesne’s win over UMass. “Nobody thinks we can win it anyway. … I just think we need to go out, relax, play and have fun and not let anybody rain on our parade.”

Dambrot’s tenure at Duquesne has differed considerably than his 13 years at the helm of Akron (2004-17), during which time the Zips were three-time MAC Tournament champions and won the regular-season league title on four occasions.

For Dambrot, the yearly expectations for his Zips teams to win titles — in stark contrast to annual projections of Duquesne — had some drawbacks.

“At Akron, we were in nine championship games — seven in a row — and I never really enjoyed any of them, because we were supposed to win them all,” Dambrot said. “But this (Dukes) team ain’t supposed to win according to everybody else.”

Whether the lack of pressure surrounding Duquesne will translate into a run deep into the A-10 Tournament remains to be seen, but Dambrot is resolved to continue preaching a specific mindset to his team.

“You want to be competitive, but you want to be relaxed,” Dambrot said. “You have to enjoy the moments. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell these guys: just enjoy each other. And that’s the good thing about our team: They enjoy each other.”

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