Offensive woes continue to be concern for Duquesne

‘I have never felt more helpless,’ coach says

Duquesne got outscored, 39-29, in the second half by Dayton and lost the Flyers, 72-63, Wednesday night at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

Marcus Weathers scored 19 points in defeat for the Dukes (3-4, 2-3 Atlantic 10).

Ibi Watson paced the Flyers (73, 3-2) with 19 points and five rebounds. Jalen Crutcher added 18 points, five rebounds, three assists, and a steal for the Flyers in the win.

Weathers scored the first 10 points for the Dukes while the team took a 10-5 lead at the 15:39 mark in the first half.

It was a solid game for Weathers, who was the only player to score in double figures for the Dukes.

Winning a game against Dayton when Crutcher and Watson played like NBA firstround picks is hard enough. Trying to win that contest when the Dukes shoot 1 of 14 from the 3-point line after Weathers made his first two 3pointers is virtually impossible.

Head coach Keith Dambrot spoke to reporters after the defeat with a somber tone.

It’s important to remember that Dukes had a three-week shutdown of practice and games in December. Also, the team lost three starters in the past two weeks. Larry Norman Jr and Sincere Carry plan on transferring. Maceo Austin wants to return once he’s worked through some personal matters.

“It’s clear that we have scoring issues,” Dambrot said via Zoom. “We don’t have enough pop. I have never felt more helpless. There isn’t a lot I can do other than keep on pushing them and loving on them.”

The Dukes took a halftime lead with a 3-pointer from Ryan Murphy as the buzzer sounded. Unfortunately, for the Dukes, the 3-pointer from Murphy was the last they would connect on for the rest of the game.

Speaking of the 3-point line, the Flyers shot 10 of 24; Duquesne finished 3 of 17 from long distance. Weathers hit his first two from deep, and Murphy’s at the buzzer was all the 3pointers the Dukes would strike.

Life doesn’t get any easier for the Dukes. The team took a the five-hour bus ride back to Pittsburgh after the game, not arriving back at the university until early Thursday morning.

On Friday, the Dukes will head to St. Bonaventure, N.Y. to face St. Bonaventure (5-1, 31). The matchup was scheduled for Saturday, but there is a pandemic going on, so the competition needed to move a day.

Conditioning is a concern for the Dukes. Dambrot tried to work around it by playing at least 10 players in all seven games this season. The Dukes used 11 players by the end of the half. It worked a bit on Wednesday as the Dukes led at halftime.

Dayton pulled away with relative ease in the last 20 minutes negating the best efforts from Duquesne. The Dukes were lethargic and it showed with their 33 percent shooting in the second half.

The game against the Bonnies won’t be easy, either. But, Dambrot is hopeful for a turnaround.

“We are going to keep showing up,” Dambrot said. “It’s hard because we won’t get much practice before Friday’s game. But, we will keep working.”

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NOTES — Toby Okani finished with five points, five assists, eight rebounds, and a block with no turnovers in 32 minutes. … The Dukes went 8 of 17 from the free-throw line, while Dayton finished 18 of 23.