16-0 run fuel for Dukes’ big rally
After trailing by 18 points in the first half and 15 points in the second half, Duquesne went on a 16-0 run and cranked up the pressure on defense to take a late lead and hold on to it in the final minutes to beat Longwood, 80-71, Sunday at Palumbo Center.
It was Duquesne’s biggest comeback since 1997, when the Dukes trailed by 19 and came back to beat Radford, 88-82.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said. “I’ll give them credit for the fighting. Because we fought back, cut it back, and then they went ahead again and most guys would have quit at that point, but we didn’t. So I give them credit. I thought defensively, we played really good in the second half, not so good in the first half but [Longwood] played well. That guy’s a good coach. They’re very, very good defensively.”
Duquesne (6-2) is only the third team to score more than 70 points against Longwood (7-4) this season.
After a low-energy first half buried Duquesne in a 4732 hole at halftime, the Dukes cut it to 53-47 at the 13:05 mark after sophomore swingman Eric Williams Jr., who had a double-double (22 points, 12 rebounds) and led the team in scoring drained a 3-pointer and freshman point guard Sincere Carry made a layup and free throw.
Longwood made three 3s for a 15-point lead at 9:16 and forced a Duquesne timeout. Duquesne responded with a 16-0 run, a 3-pointer by Williams and baseline jumper by freshman guard Lamar Norman Jr., who tallied 15 points, making it 62-52.
Freshman Amari Kelly dunked after a steal by sophomore guard Tavian DunnMartin (11 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists) and Norman added a layup to make it 62-61, then two free throws by Dunn-Martin gave Duquesne its first lead of the day at 5:09.
“It was like, ‘Oh shoot we can really get in this game,’” said Norman, who made his first start of the season. “We all just kept our heads up and that’s what we did and we got the win.”
Duquesne cranked up the pressure on defense down the stretch, with Longwood committing 21 turnovers (7 in the first half) and Duquesne tallying 6 blocks and 8 steals overall (2 blocks in the first half, 3 steals in the first half).
“Playing defense, getting stops, just getting baskets gave us energy,” Dunn-Martin said. “For them not making as much as they did in the [first] half, I think we did a pretty good job of stopping them, so that gives us a lot of energy. … Bringing the pressure is really key for us.”
A fastbreak layup by Norman made it 69-65 at 2:53, and a long 3-pointer by DunnMartin made it 74-65. Kelly had a key block with 32 seconds to play to help close out the win.
In the first half, Duquesne shot 39.3 percent to Longwood’s 61.3 percent and was out-rebounded, 19-11. Duquesne bounced back in the second half to shoot 41.7 percent overall (Longwood 48.1 percent) with rebounds tied at 33-33. The Dukes made 20 of 23 free throws, making 10 of 12 in the final five minutes to cushion their lead.
“They were just hitting a lot of shots in the first half,” Williams said. “A lot of shots. Off our mistakes, too. But I think in the second half we chalked it up and played how we were supposed to.”
Duquesne sophomore center Mike Hughes, who is 24 for 30 from the field over his past three games, did not play due to a knee contusion. As of now, it’s unclear how long he will be out, but he will have an MRI done Monday, per source.
The Dukes next play host to Maryland Eastern Shore at 7 p.m. Thursday.