Dukes enjoy a payback win
Dixon racks up first double-double in satisfying home win vs. Hawks
The Duquesne men’s basketball team was itching for revenge after falling just short the last time it played Saint Joseph’s. The Hawks scored with 0.2 seconds left to win when the two teams met onJan. 20.
This time it was different. The Dukes were in control for the majority of the game with Saint Joseph’s trying to play catch-up. Duquesne led for the entire second half, carrying the Dukes to a 66-56 victory Saturday at UPMC CooperFieldhouse.
“Going into that game, that was one of the teams that we really wanted to beat,” David Dixon said. “It was a close game, we really shouldn’t have lost it. We wanted to make sure that we made our own victory. We didn’t want any luck or anything to will us to a victory or a loss. and We want to win in our way. And that’s what we did tonight.”
The Dukes led for a total of 34 minutes, but their first double-digit advantage wouldn’t come until Jimmy Clark III hit a 3-pointer to makeit 44-34 with 11:32 to go.
Their largest lead of 17 points came about six minutes later. Jakub Necas and Dixon made back-to-back 3 -pointers then Halil Barre scored a second chance layup with 5:44 left on the clock.
It’s just the second 3pointer this season for Dixon. His teammates had a huge reaction afterward and Saint Joseph’s coach Billy Lange called a timeout in hopes to stiflethe momentum.
“That’s something I work on all the time,” Dixon said. “Just like free throws, I work on 3-pointers a lot. I want to be more of an inside-out player. …I’m happy one went in because that’s helped my confidence a lot.
Cameron Brown tried to rally a comeback for Saint Joseph’s when he hit two 3pointers to close the gap to 11 points with a little less than three minutes remaining. Kareem Rozier made a costly foul, giving Brown an opportunity on the free-throw line. He sank both of his attempts and put the Hawks within nine points with 1:09 left in thegame.
Duquesne fell victim to its pattern of struggling to score down the stretch, scoring only six points in the final two minutes. But the Dukes’ defensive efforts and the lead it had amassed allowed the Dukes to hold on for a win.
The Dukes didn’t have to worry about Christ Essandoko — who scored 21 points when he last played the Dukes. The 7-foot freshman was out with a lower body injury, giving Duquesne a bit of breathing room. It was the duo of Brown and Lynn Greer III that led the way for the Hawks with 18 and 11, respectively.
Dixon got his first ever double-double finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds against the Hawks. Clark and Dae Dae Grant also scored in double figures with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
But it was the freshman who coach Keith Dambrot chose to highlight in his opening statement during the press conference. Necas added a career-high 10 points while the team shot at 43.4% overall.
“The one guy comes in every day, first one in the gym every single day, every single day, and he got what he deserved tonight,” Dambrot said. “Jakub and Matus [Hronsky] come in every day first thing in the morning and work their behinds off. When you have reasonable ability and you spend enough time on it, eventually something good is going to happen. I was happy for him.”
Key stat
Duquesne had its second best 3-point shooting of the season against the Hawks. The Dukes went 9 for 18 from beyond the arc, with six different players scoring from long range — including big men Dixon, Necas and Andrei Savrasov. Clark’s 3 for 6 was the highest for the Dukes.
“We’re open most of the time we’re shooting those 3s,” Dambrot said. “Eventually if you have decent shooters you’re gonna make [them]. We’ve had a rough time at the 3 line, but we’ve shot better in recent weeks.”
Quotable
In the past nine games Grant has gone 31 for 31 from the free-throw line. He’s missed only five free throws this season for a 95.6% success rate from the charity stripe.
“There’s very few people in the world that can shoot free throws better than him,” Dambrot said. “That’s all I’m gonna say. That’s just a freak of nature to be able to shoot it like that. When he misses you’re surprised, Right?… When you foul him, you might as well have given us twopoints.”
Up next
Duquesne hosts Saint Louis on Tuesday. It’s the first matchup for the two teams this season. The Billikens are 9-16 overall and just 210 in Atlantic 10 play. They’re looking to snap a two-game losing streak.