Duquesne Basketball
Duquesne’s Carry, Dunn-Martin Receive A-10 Recognition
PITTSBURGH — The Atlantic 10 revealed its men’s basketball All-Conference honors and recognition with Duquesne receiving two spots.
Duquesne freshman guard Sincere Carry and redshirt sophomore guard Tavian Dunn-Martin both were recognized with honors, as voted upon by the conference’s 14 coaches.
Carry was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, giving Duquesne three consecutive seasons with at least one player making this team (Mike Lewis II and Isiaha Mike in 2017 and Eric Williams Jr in 2018).
This season, Carry has started all 27 games he has played in averaging 12.3 points per game, 5.8 assists per game and totaling 68 steals.
Carry quickly assumed a leadership role on this Duquesne team and has overcome a knee injury which has caused him to miss time this season.
“I’m confident in the system and (Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot) trusts me with the ball,” Carry said prior to this season. “My teammates know I will make the extra pass, I have done that since I was younger. I’m an energy guy on the defensive end, offensively I try to get scorers in good position and I can make a couple of plays which brings the team energy. I’ll do whatever, it doesn’t matter.”
He fell short of winning Rookie of the Year, an award which went to Dayton’s Obi Toppin.
Sincere Carry (35) January 12, 2019 — David Hague/PSN
Dunn-Martin was named Sixth Man of the Year. This is the second consecutive year a Duquesne player received this nod as Tarin Smith won the award last season.
In 31 games, four of which were starts, Dunn-Martin averaged eight points per game and he made 47 three-point shots while shooting 88.2% from the free throw line. Dunn-Martin also has made a difference defensively and transferred to Duquesne upon Dambrot’s hire.
The coaching staff and the bond we made my first year brought me to Duquesne,” Dunn-Martin said prior to this season. “The things we did the first year, they became my family, so it was a good choice for me to come over here Coach D has been hard on me since the first day I got to Akron. I like how he pushes me and tries to make me better every day.”
Dambrot was certainly on a short list of Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year options as he took Duquesne from a preseason prediction of 11th in the conference, flirted with a double bye and finished in seventh place.
“We took over a program that was 10-22 and 3-15 two years ago,” said Dambrot. “We went 16-16 last year, that’s a plus-six and plus-four in the league. This year we are at least a plus-three in both from a season ago. We’re making progress slowly but surely. We just have to make sure we continue climbing forward so that someday when we win 23 games, people think we are having a hard time. As a coach, you have to be adaptable and flexible with your team. The basics remain the same but the way you manage people has to change.”
Ultimately, VCU coach Mike Rhoades was awarded with the honor. Rhoades joins his women’s basketball counterpart Beth O’Boyle as receiving this postseason award.
This is just the second time in A-10 history that the men’s and women’s coach of the year winners went to the same program. The first occurred in the 1986-87 season when Temple women’s basketball coach Linda Macdonald won the award outright and men’s basketball coach John Chaney shared the award with Rhode Island’s Tom Penders.
Duquesne is seeded seventh in the Atlantic 10 Championships and will face Saint Joseph’s Thursday at 6 p.m. With a win, Duquesne would face Davidson Friday night in one of four quarterfinal contests.
Atlantic 10 Awards
Atlantic 10 Player of the Year– Jon Axel Gudmundsson Davidson
Defensive Player of the Year– Javon Bess Saint Louis
Rookie of the Year – Obi Toppin Dayton
Chris Daniels Most Improved Player– Justin Kier George Mason
Sixth Man of the Year– Tavian Dunn-Martin Duquesne
Coach of the Year– Mike Rhoades VCU
All-Conference First Team
Jon Axel Gudmundsson Davidson
Kellan Grady Davidson
Obi Toppin Dayton
Courtney Stockard St. Bonaventure
Marcus Evans VCU
All-Conference Second Team
Justin Kier George Mason
Cyril Langevine Rhode Island
Jacob Gilyard Richmond
Charlie Brown Saint Joseph’s
Javon Bess Saint Louis
All-Conference Third Team
Jalen Crutcher Dayton
Josh Cunningham Dayton
Grant Golden Richmond
Hasahn French Saint Louis
De’Riante Jenkins VCU
All-Academic Team
Ryan Mikesell Dayton
Justin Mazzula GW
Jeff Dowtin Rhode Island
Noah Yates Richmond
Marcus Evans VCU
All-Defensive Team
Cyril Langevine Rhode Island
Jacob Gilyard Richmond
Osun Osunniyi St. Bonaventure
Javon Bess Saint Louis
Hasahn French Saint Louis
All-Rookie Team
Sincere Carry Duquesne
Nick Honor Fordham
Obi Toppin Dayton
Kyle Lofton St. Bonaventure
Osun Osunniyi St. Bonaventure
