Dukes Collapse in 2nd Half, Lose to Richmond, 74-57

The Duquesne Men’s Basketball Team has now lost six consecutive contests, falling 74-57 to Richmond Tuesday night at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

“Right now, I just don’t think we’re good enough to beat the good teams, consistently on most nights,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said. “We let it get away from us when we were up nine and in the second half, I feel that we competed, but just didn’t make anything. When you continually don’t make it puts unbelievable pressure to guard and they made them and we didn’t. If you consistently score 50’s then you’ve got scoring issues.”

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Duquesne (6-13/1-6 Atlantic 10) was led by Leon Ayers III’s 14 points, while teammate Toby Okani added 13 points. Tre Williams finished with a final line of 10 points and seven rebounds. Kevin Easley added eight rebounds. Primo Spears’s seven assists matched a career high.

Richmond (14-8/5-4 A-10) was led by Tyler Burton’s double-double, which consisted of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Jacob Gilyard added 17 points, and Nathan Cayo 10 points.

“We were a little sped up in the first half,” Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. “They extended their defense, they extended their pressure and that was a good strategy and had a little bit too much of an affect for us. We maintained our aggression, but were a little more under control, and the ball moved really nicely. We made shots as a result of that.”

Duquesne opened play with a more concerted offensive effort in comparison to its Saturday setback to Saint Louis. The dialogue was much more present and defensively, the Dukes were the more physical team, especially in the post.

After Richmond took a lead, Duquesne would respond with a 9-2 run to open up a 12-6 lead.

Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot attempted to give Williams a brief rest following the first media timeout, but Mounir Hima drew the assignment of guarding Golden and fouled twice within a minute.

Dambrot attempted to remedy this situation following the first whistle by subbing Easley in but after the second foul, Williams had to return to the court.

Duquesne led by as many as nine points in the first half and had a three-point shot which could have stretched the lead into double digits had it fallen. The Dukes would have two scoreless droughts which allowed the Spiders back into the game.

Richmond rebounded as Gilyard would score 11 points. The program’s career steal leader also added three thefts to his first-half line.

A Gilyard three-point shot would allow for Richmond to reclaim the advantage and with the game tied in the closing seconds of the half, Burton shook off Easley, creating enough separation for a buzzer-beating three-point shot. This allowed Richmond to lead 35-32 at halftime.

Williams attempted to get the second half off to a positive start for Duquesne, with a hoop-and-harm play, but his free throw was short of target.

Richmond would respond with an 8-0 run, making the streak 26-8 overall, opening up a nine-point advantage. This activated a Duquesne timeout.

Things would worsen for Duquesne as Richmond continued to find answers making threes and familiar Dukes behaviors from the Saint Louis game re-emerged with shoulders hung and the team jogging into offensive sets.

Richmond would capitalize making the run 40-10 overall and stretching the lead to 21 points into the under-12 media timeout.

“We were playing really tough defense and they were getting agitated, really frustrated and started yelling at one another,” said Burton. “We chipped away and were a gnat to them the entire time.”

Duquesne did show some fight getting the score to 13 points, but Richmond had answers which included a four-point play from Burton.

While Richmond was 7-for-11 on its second-half three-point shots, Duquesne did not make one in 10 tries.

Richmond continued to provide frustrations on both ends of the court for the Dukes, securing victory.

“I don’t think we’re championship quality,” said Dambrot. “Do I think we can turn it around and win the championship? No. we might be able to put 2-3 games together in tournament in the end because we do have some ability. Maybe we get hit enough times in the mouth to rebound.”

Duquesne will look to get back to its winning ways Saturday at VCU, a contest slated for a 4 p.m. tip. ESPN+ will carry the game.

POSTGAME VIDEO

Postgame Press Conference – Duquesne – YouTube