Duquesne Drops Ninth Straight with Loss to Fordham

The Duquesne Men’s Basketball team saw its losing streak reach nine following a 65-54 setback against Fordham Saturday at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

Duquesne (6-16/1-9 Atlantic 10) was led by Tre Williams’s 14 points, while Leon Ayers III contributed 12 points.

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Fordham (11-12/3-7) won without its leading scorer Darius Quisenberry. The Rams were led by Chuba Ohams who scored 18 points, while grabbing 14 rebounds. Josh Colon-Navarro scored 15 points. Both Antrell Charlton (11) and Kyle Rose (10) joined the double-figure barrage. Fordham won the rebounding battle 48-25.

Once again Duquesne’s offense hit a lull, this time in a major way as it was held without a field goal for the final 8:52 of the first half, though it was able to get to the free throw line, where the team converted 10 of 12 free throws.

Prior to this stretch, Duquesne attempted to slow down Fordham’s offense which had been shooting 55.6% from the field. Coach Dambrot opted to sub in both Mike Bekelja and Davis Larson into the game.

Immediately, Duquesne got a stop and forced two consecutive turnovers, while Larson made the last field goal of the half, good for his 1000th career point.

Duquesne also briefly lost Tyson Acuff, who bumped headfirst into a teammate’s leg and was down for an extended period of time. Dambrot joined the team’s trainer and medical staff. Acuff would slow go back towards his bench, with assistance. He would return to the floor in the second half.

In addition to being held without a field goal for nearly the final nine minutes of the first half, Duquesne also misfired on all five of its three-point shots.

Duquesne was unable to generate steady offense and had one assist in the opening 20 minutes.

Williams snapped the field goal skid 16 seconds into the second half.

Fordham led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but after a Larson three-point basket and a Rams turnover, the opportunity was there to cut the deficit to four points, but Kevin Easley’s try from three went in and out.

On the other end, Fordham would score the next four points and bring its advantage back to double digits.

Duquesne attempted one final rally, cutting the deficit to five points, but Colon-Navarro was left open for a three-point shot. When the shot hit nothing but net, Easley put his hands up in the air, with Dambrot doing the same.

Colon-Navarro was not done. While multiple players battled on the floor for a jump ball, Colon-Navarro found space and chucked up a three just prior to the shot clock hitting zero. Again, his shot hit nothing but net, restoring Fordham’s advantage to double digits.

Duquesne will next take part in a doubleheader with the women’s team Wednesday and its game against George Washington is the backend of that. The contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip and will be carried by ESPN+.

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