Duquesne Basketball
Duquesne Dominates Second Half, Wins Season Opener Over Princeton
PITTSBURGH — As Duquesne junior center Michael Hughes entered the game in the second half, he embraced graduate student Baylee Steele who received a standing ovation from the fan in attendance at PPG Paints Arena.
Duquesne used a 25-6 second half run and shot 64.7% from the field in the final 20 minutes to win its season-opening contest 94-67 against Princeton.
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This is the most points Duquesne has ever scored in a game at PPG Paints Arena.
Sincere Carry led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting, while Steele had 19 points in 28 minutes off the bench. Richmond Aririguzoh and Drew Friberg each had 19 points for Princeton.
In similar fashion to the team’s exhibition contest against West Virginia, Duquesne got off to a slow start in Tuesday night’s contest trailing 23-9, but a spirited offensive effort drew the result back to a 32-32 stalemate.
Duquesne’s comeback was aided by 18 bench points, as both Lamar Norman Jr and Steele drained multiple three-point shots in the effort.
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Princeton was able to take a 42-37 halftime lead as Duquesne was undone by allowing the Tigers to shoot 58.6% from the field. Friberg made four three-point shots in the half and Aririguzoh scored 12 points on a perfect five-for-five shooting performance from the field.
In the second half, Duquesne’s Hughes drained a couple of shots and shortly after a Tavian Dunn-Martin three-point basket placed the Dukes back in the lead.
Though Jaelin Llewellyn quickly responded, Steele made a jumper which was followed by a corner three from Maceo Austin which activated a Princeton timeout.
From there, Duquesne controlled the game and the pace of play became quicker as the Dukes went on the 25-6 run which created necessary separation. Duquesne also held Princeton to 37% shooting from the field.
Duquesne continues its three-game homestand Tuesday evening when it takes on Lamar at LaRoche University.
