Duquesne MBB Unable To Overcome Hot Shooting William & Mary
The Duquesne Men’s Basketball Team came back from being down 16 points to William & Mary but did not make enough plays down the stretch falling 83-79 Tuesday night at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Duquesne (5-3) had five achieve double figures paced by Jimmie Williams’s 16 points. Tarence Guinyard contributed 13 points, Alex Williams a Dukes high 12 and both David Dixon and Jakub Necas each earned 11 points.
As a team, the Dukes won the rebounding battle 37-24, bench points 34-16, the paint by a 36-24 margin and 20-3 on second-chance points 20-3.
William & Mary (8-2) saw Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi earn 17 points, with teammate Cade Haskins right behind with his 16 points. Killian Brockhoff (14), Jo’el Emanuel (12) and Reese Miller (10) rounded out the Tribe five.
The Tribe were 15-for-20 from three-point range.
It was a slow start for Duquesne as William & Mary converted its first six shots from the field and led 16-4 as the Dukes opted to call a timeout.
Duquesne brought several substitutes out after with a Jake DiMichele diving effort for a rebound culminating in a basket. It was efforts such as this that resulted in the contest being back down to a two-possession affair.
William & Mary converted nine three-point shots utilizing ball movement even when pressured in the post, while Duquesne missed all but one of its first 10 efforts from deep. It was such a prolific effort from three-point range which can explain why the Tribe scored the most of any opponent to date this season from three-point range.
This stunted Duquesne’s comeback attempt, though it would have a second such effort in the half.
Williams proved to be a spark, as he achieved his high point mark for Duquesne in the first half and was a part of both runs.
It was 48-40 in William & Mary’s favor at halftime as Duquesne cut a 16-point deficit in half by the intermission.
At the beginning of the second half, Williams attempted a corner three-point shot, which was converted but waved off by official Ryan Sassano who gestured towards the guard explaining a kicking gesture on the follow through, which drew the ire of the bench and home fans alike.
This play was compounded by a Tribe make.
William & Mary’s largest lead was 14 points on a Haskins three-point shot, but once again Duquesne mounted a comeback.
The response was a 13-2 run making the game a one-possession affair as the crowd began to crescendo, feeling the change in momentum.
A Guinyard and-one opportunity drew the ire of Tribe coach Brian Earl who expressed clear pleasure to official Ed Corliss.
Duquesne’s comeback would be completed when DiMichele’s three pointer fell true beside his bench. It was a big play for a returning DiMichele who was back for his second game, and also loomed large for the Dukes themselves as it was their first lead of the evening.
No less than a minute later, that frustration boiled over when he was overheard using a profane word after Duquesne fouled one of his players, as he was assessed a technical foul.
Up by five points, with 5:47 remaining in regulation, it appeared that Duquesne was poised to close out the game, but ultimately it would be unable to do so.
The Tribe would hold their nerve at the free-throw line and Chase Lowe grabbed the game’s biggest rebound, after Vahlberg Fasasi fired a triple. The ball went right back to him and the second time proved to be the charm.
Duquesne wraps up its three-game homestand Saturday when it hosts Stony Brook at 2 p.m. a contest ESPN+ will carry.
Following the contest, Dixon and Williams spoke in addition to Dru Joyce III.
