Dukes beat buzzer for tie, then capture thriller in overtime
Sincere Carry’s 32 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and steal to later set up his tying layup with one second left was enough for Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot to drop a LeBron James reference.
Concerning the effort, that is, from the freshman point guard in Duquesne’s 89-88 overtime win against University of Illinois at Chicago Monday at Palumbo Center.
“I’ve been around the game a long time, obviously having coached one of the best players of all time, but that performance today by that point guard was phenomenal,” referring to James, whom Dambrot coached at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
“And I’m not just talking about his numbers, but his toughness. I haven’t seen that out of a freshman, maybe ever, other than maybe freshman year of high school when I had LeBron. That’s about it.”
Thanks to a burst of offense by Carry, who did not have a Division I offer until Duquesne came along, and freshman guard Lamar Norman Jr., who finished with 11 points, in the final five minutes of regulation, Duquesne turned a 14point deficit into a fighting chance.
“Throughout the game, we just stayed together, stayed as a team, and we wanted to see what kind of fight we had. We just started playing free and together and we just fought back,” Carry said.
Duquesne trailed by 11 at halftime as the Flames’ 3-point shooting stayed hot all game (making 14 of 26 total), but a 3-pointer by Carry
finally brought Duquesne within six points of UIC and a triple by freshman guard Lamar Norman Jr., who did not play in Duquesne’s win Saturday against William & Mary, brought Duquesne within three with 1:47 to play.
Norman had two 3s and a key steal in the final four minutes.
A catch-and-shoot 3pointer by junior guard Mike Lewis II made it 78-76, UIC, with 56 seconds to play, and a layup by Carry kept Duquesne in it, 80-78, with 10.7 seconds left. Carry’s steal with 8 seconds left, followed by a baseline drive and another layup with a second to play, tied the score at 80-80 and meant overtime.
“It was just one of our plays. In practices, we worked on it to throw back to Mike [Lewis], but he said just make that as a decoy since I guess last year he made a shot like that on the same play,” Carry said. “Once I cut the corner, I blew right past my man, easy layup.”
Two free throws by sophomore swingman Eric Williams Jr., who tallied 18 points and 11 rebounds, to open up overtime gave Duquesne its first lead of the night at 82-80, and a 3-pointer by Norman (Carry with the assist) made it 86-85 Duquesne at 2:12.
The Dukes held on for the win, thanks in part to two free throws by Williams and one by sophomore forward Marcus Weathers, who had 7 points and 4 rebounds.
“The one thing coach Dambrot said if you listen to me, we can win this game,” Weathers said of the conversation going into overtime.
“We listened to what his game plan was and we went out there and executed. Really just to guard them, guard them one-on-one, play good one-on-one defense, and we were going to win the game. And rebound.”
In the first half, Duquesne quickly got down, 18-6, as UIC, which went 20-16 last season, opened up shooting 87.5 percent from the field.
The Dukes couldn’t find a rhythm on offense, shooting 3 of 11 from 3 in the first half and trailing, 41-30, at the half.
About three minutes into the second half, Carry tore down the court and connected with Weathers, who dunked to make it 46-37. A layup by Carry later made it 51-39 and a Carry 3-pointer at 12:52 narrowed the deficit to 55-48.
Next, Duquesne will play Radford at noon Saturday at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, the famed high school of James, in Akron, Ohio, in their third game of the Gotham Classic. Dambrot had a 305-139 record at Akron before taking the Duquesne job in March 2017.