Duquesne Blown Out By Saint Louis, 77-53

With 4:07 remaining in regulation, a deflated Duquesne Men’s Basketball forward Kevin Easley departed the court, both hands fallen to his sides after an open pass fall wide left of target, one of 20 turnovers on the day, which matched a season high.

Saint Louis controlled play for most of the afternoon, besting Duquesne 77-53 Saturday at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

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Easley was the lone individual to achieve a double figure point total for Duquesne (6-12/1-5 A-10) with his 11 points on 10 shots. Jackie Johnson III added nine points and Toby Okani seven rebounds.

Saint Louis (14-6/5-2 A-10) saw both Fred Thatch Jr and Francis Okoro score 14 points, while Gibson Jimerson notched 12 points of his own. Yuri Collins had 11 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and four steals.

Duquesne struggles to find its shot in the early going, as it was held without a field goal for the opening 4:11 of the contest. It also committed four turnovers in as many possessions after play tipped off.

While Saint Louis was unable to take too much advantage, holding a 6-3 advantage heading into the first media timeout, it placed the Dukes in an early hole.

As play resumed, Duquesne was able to turn its fortunes around digging in on the defense end. Mounir Hima had three first-half blocks, and SLU was unable to get too much going offensively.

Duquesne was able to turn its defense into offense and when Tyson Acuff buried a three-point shot, the Dukes jumped in front 14-13.

Saint Louis was able to use a key 12-2 run to create separation in the first half and would assist on 11 of its 16 field goals, compared to Duquesne, which was 4-of-11 in the same categories.

Collins was able to showcase his passing ability, getting his teammates involved to the tune of six assists, meanwhile Jimerson began to find his stroke from deep nailing two three pointers during the run.

While Easley had eight first-half points, he had two critical fouls off Thatch and-one opportunities.

Duquesne also was plagued by turnovers, committing 12 in the first half and Saint Louis turned those into 14 points. The Dukes earned one point off five Billikens errors.

After Collins beat the buzzer on a three-point basket, Saint Louis held a 42-29 advantage at halftime.

Saint Louis continued to build on its lead as it grabbed five offensive rebounds within its opening four possessions. During one of those, SLU grabbed three boards in one sequence, with Duquesne watching the last two, as Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot could only look on with disappointment.

Even with Saint Louis missing some of its post presence with both Okoro and Marten Linssen sitting after four fouls, Duquesne was unable to capitalize, losing the paint battle by a 42-22 mark.

Saint Louis brought its reserves in for the final minutes and 10 of its 11 players who saw the floor scored at least two points.

Duquesne will remain home, hosting Richmond Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a contest carried by ESPN+.

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