Duquesne Dukes End Consol Energy Center Losing Streak
Micah Mason and the Duquesne Dukes men’s basketball team won 83-73 against Dayton. Photo courtesy Stephen Pope
At home, no opponent fazes the Duquesne Dukes men’s basketball team, so when Atlantic 10 co-leader Dayton came to the Consol Energy Center, the home team won by an 83-73 score.
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“I think that was the best basketball game we’ve played this season,” Dukes coach Jim Ferry said. “Just a truly unselfish basketball game on both ends of the floor. We got down 10 to start and battled back. When we play at home we really play better.”
Duquesne (9-16, 4-10 A-10) was led by junior guard Derrick Colter‘s 25 points which allowed him to reach 1,000 points for his Dukes career. Junior guard Micah Mason flirted with a triple-double with his 17 point, nine assist, eight rebound effort. Senior guard Dominique McKoy (11 points, nine rebounds), junior forward Jeremiah Jones (10 points) and sophomore guard L.G. Gill (10 points) were also contributors for the team.
The victory also ended a seven game losing streak at Consol Energy Center with the previous win coming against West Virgnia on Dec. 11, 2012.
Dayton which came into the contest as an eighth seed on Joe Lunardi’s bracketology but left Pittsburgh with a 20-6 overall record and 10-4 A-10 mark. The Flyers lost despite forward Dysean Pierre scoring a career high 27 points while also contributing 12 rebounds: good for his third consecutive double double. Scoochie Smith (14), Jordan Sibert (12) and Kendall Pollard also scored in double figures.
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In the contest, Duquesne shot 52.5 percent from the field while Dayton had a 39.7 mark. Additionally the Dukes shot 12.8 percent better from the free throw line while grabbing six more rebounds than their opponent. Duquesne owned the paint to the tune of a 49-26 points in the paint advantage and also were a +15 in bench points.
“They were the better team and they were faster in all aspects,” coach Archie Miller said. “I really can’t remember a game this year where our defense just didn’t have that many answers. We’ve pretty much seen everything.”
It was Dayton that had the early advantage taking a 13-5 lead but Colter’s seven points keyed a Duquesne run that resulted in a 21-20 advantage in favor of the Dukes.
Though Duquesne would lead 34-29 with 6:52 to play in the first half, it was Dayton that led 42-41 at halftime. The half had two ties and 10 lead changes.
The Dukes were the aggressors to start the second half taking a 61-52 lead, due in large part to the Flyers making three of its first 13 shots coming out of the locker room.
Dayton attempted to come back cutting the lead to five on two occasions, but Duquesne would not be denied and earned the win.
Duquesne will next face Saint Louis Wednesday at 7 pm with Dominique McKoy being recognized as part of senior day.
My take: One word comes to mind in this one and it’s finally. A quality opponent squared off against Duquesne with a tight game being the outcome down the stretch. Finally Duquesne answered the call. Dayton is a very good team and many fans saw that on national television as part of March Madness in 2014. This Dayton team has the potential to make more noise in the big dance. George Washington somewhat challenged Duquesne in this regard but not at the level Dayton did. This is going to sound like a broken record but Duquesne’s road record (1-9) has been an absolute killer to the season. Calling the players young so much can only be used as so much of an excuse but now with two quality conference wins, this team believes and may have the right stuff.
I would like to take a moment from the normal my take to reflect on assistant coach John Rhodes who Ferry stated was diagnosed with cancer three weeks ago and then on top of that was struck by a car earlier this week in Philadelphia when the team was preparing to face La Salle. Rhodes had emergency surgery Tuesday and will have more Monday. This in combination with Colter’s cancer which was made public this past summer have shown the Dukes in a new light. They are all very close and stick together. I have not spoken to Rhodes more than a couple of times but when I have, I saw an intelligent man who was kind to everyone he interacted with. Obviously I along with countless others hope he has a speedy recovery and return to the bench.