Dukes rally but Colonials prevail
Duquesne cut a 10-point deficit to three with 19 seconds to play Sunday but couldn’t overcome George Washington, falling 77-70 at Palumbo Center.
Facing the 6-foot-9 Yuta Watanabe and Tyler Cavanaugh, the Dukes managed to get first-possession stops but the Colonials grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.
“That was a really frustrating loss,” Duquesne coach Jim Ferry said. “It’s hard enough trying to overcome a Tyler Cavanaugh or a Yuta Watanabe, when you just keep making all these mistakes. That’s on us. We defended to a high level and then they crushed us on the offensive glass. In the second half, they couldn’t guard us until we guarded ourselves.”
Duquesne slipped to 10-17 overall and 3-11 in the Atlantic 10.
Midway through the second half, the score was 41-41. Then came ties at 43 and 47.
George Washington scored four 3-pointers in five minutes to go up 60-53 with 7: 28 left. A dunk by Watanabe, a 6-foot-9 guard, stretched the lead to 62-53, and a free throw by Collin Smith gave George Washington a 10-point lead.
Mike Lewis II led the comeback attempt that fell short, scoring 17 of his 22 points in the second half and 13 in the final five minutes. Lewis II was coming off a career-high 31 points in Duquesne’s 96-66 win against Massachusetts Wednesday, and, at times, had to match up with Watanabe.
The offensive burst for George Washington might have thrown Duquesne out of its rhythm, but the Dukes struggled throughout to transition cleanly and couldn’t limit the Colonials’ 3-point shooting as they made 12 of 26 from beyond the arc.
“It’s not an excuse, you know,” Lewis II said. “We did some things down the stretch that we normally don’t do, and it cost us the game.”
Ferry said Duquesne struggled to attack the rim and made poor decisions on offense.
“We haven’t been great in transitions, and that’s why I try to slow it down,” Ferry said. “But the game of basketball is pretty fast. And I thought we made some poor decisions while attacking the basket. Several guys.”
In the first half, the Dukes’ Nakye Sanders and Darius Lewis took turns battling 6-9 Colonials forward Cavanaugh, who entered the day averaging 17 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Cavanaugh had 10 20-point games and nine double-doubles before Sunday and finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. He shot 2 of 8 from the floor but made 13 of 14 free throws.
Sanders had nine rebounds in the first half and 14 overall, but scored only 4 points.
Duquesne slipped behind in the first half before a 3pointer by Lewis II, his first basket of the game, cut George Washington’s lead to 34-31 with 1:41 left. Lewis II made a layup 30 seconds later, and the Dukes trailed at halftime, 38-33.
The Dukes faced George Washington without 6-foot-8 Jordan Robinson, who strained his knee in practice and is unlikely to play Wednesday againt Fordham. The game against Fordham will mark the end of Duquesne’s three-game home stand.