Duquesne Holds On For Ugly OT Win Over Fordham, 58-56

PITTSBURGH — Tavian Dunn-Martin missed each of his first eight shots from the field but in a Wednesday night overtime contest against Fordham at PPG Paints Arena, the redshirt junior guard opted to try one more three-point shot.

The shot fell through and the Duquesne crowd erupted as the basket not only gave the Dukes an advantage on the scoreboard, but also an opportunity to dictate the pace of play.

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Duquesne was able to win a back-and-forth contest 58-56 over Fordham improving to 15-2 on the season and 5-0 in Atlantic 10 play.

Lamar Norman Jr paced Duquesne matching his career high with 20 points. Norman also set a career high with six three-point shots made. Marcus Weathers added eight points and 10 rebounds towards Duquesne’s cause.

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Ty Perry led Fordham with 17 points, while Jalen Cobb had 16 points of his own.

It was an inconsistent first half for both sides as each was able to go on respective runs before settling back into cold streaks.

Early on, Fordham appeared to trap inside the post, even triple-teaming a Duquesne player at one point and essentially daring Norman to shoot the basketball.

Norman did just that scoring each of Duquesne’s opening 12 points as Fordham largely was able to provide answers during the stretch.

Early on, Duquesne led Fordham by nine points, holding the Rams to a 27% shooting clip, but after Perry drilled a three-point basket, coach Jeff Neubauer loudly called for a timeout.

After this timeout, Fordham set into a zone defense and Duquesne struggled to score the basketball. It took time to adjust as Fordham was able to retake the lead as the first half drew closer to a conclusion.

With the score tied at 27, Fordham was able to effectively play keep-away with Duquesne until Ivan Raut made a three-point basket with 11 seconds remaining. When Duquesne came up empty on its final possession, Fordham took a 30-27 advantage into the locker room.

In the second half, Duquesne continued to struggle getting quality post touches as Fordham’s scouting report and zone seemed to provide some clear frustration.

All game long, Fordham had contained Weathers in regards to points, but as the game drew closer to its conclusion, the redshirt junior guard was determined to get the last laugh.

Weathers was able to make a three-point basket, just his fourth of the season and then earn an and-one opportunity which allowed Duquesne to reclaim the lead.

Still the advantage was not enough as Fordham was able to close regulation on a 7-0 run sending the game into overtime.

Both teams had opportunities to win the game in regulation, but Sincere Carry threw a pass away and on the last possession, Cobb made a fadeaway jumper.

Duquesne was able to win the overtime period as Dunn-Martin nailed a triple and then found Baylee Steele for a layup. Down the stretch both Steele and Sincere Carry split free throws and Fordham’s half-court heave did not beat the buzzer and regardless was off the mark.

As Carry was set to shoot his second free throw, Neubauer tried to made an offense-for-defense substitution but after a lengthy discussion and consultation with the game operations table, the call to deny the substitution stood. After the final buzzer sounded, Neubauer expressed displeasure for the call before going down the handshake line.

Duquesne will take back to the road for two games beginning with Wednesday’s road test at Rhode Island. Duquesne last won at Rhode Island in 2014.

POSTGAME