Duquesne MBB Fades In Road Setback

The Duquesne Men’s Basketball Team fell to 0-2 in Atlantic 10 play for the first time in the Keith Dambrot era, after a 72-67 setback at Loyola Chicago Saturday afternoon.

Duquesne (9-5/0-2 Atlantic 10) was led by David Dixon’s career-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and seven rebounds. Dae Dae Grant added 13 points and a season-best eight rebounds. Jimmy Clark also had 13 points and seven rebounds, but also committed seven turnovers, his most as a Duke. Kareem Rozier chimed in with 12 points.

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Loyola Chicago (10-5/2-0 A-10) saw Philip Alston lead the way with his 17 points, meanwhile both Dame Adelekun and Des Watson both earned 15 points. The Ramblers recorded 42 points in the paint during this contest.

This was Duquesne’s first appearance at Loyola since Feb. 18, 1993.

Duquesne opted for its original starting lineup as both Chabi Barre and Andrei Savrasov both were inserted back to the opening five after not having that distinction for the past two games.

It was a sloppy start both ways as 11 combined turnovers were committed in the first 5:30 of game action.

Duquesne’s play broke through first with Dixon subbed in and Jake DiMichele also coming off the bench drained a three-point basket off a Grant pass.

DiMichele played 17 minutes in this game, surpassing his previous high of six and the freshman guard rewarded the Dukes with a season-best seven points.

The Dukes capped off a 10-1 run when Barre grabbed a rebound and put the ball back into the basket as Loyola went exactly four minutes without a field goal.

Slowly but surely, this lead would dissipate as a 22-10 run saw Alston convert a Duquesne turnover into a layup on the other end.

During this time, the Dukes got into foul trouble with both Barre and Fousseyni Drame each being assessed two whistles.

Duquesne would use an eight-man rotation in the first half, but with multiple post players in foul trouble, neither Tre Williams nor Dusan Mahorcic heard his name called.

Dixon put the Dukes back in front and his steal led to a Grant three-point bucket. Duquesne led 40-36 at halftime and had a nine-rebound edge over the Ramblers.

Duquesne went 11:23 without a three-point basket in the second half as Kareem Rozier scored one early and the Dukes missed seven straight triples. The skid ended when Dixon buried the first of his career.

Duquesne shot 30.3% from the field in the second half and its significant rebounding advantage completely evaporated until close to game’s end.

Williams would sub in with eight minutes remaining in regulation after Barre picked up his fourth foul, appearing for two minutes. Dixon would be in foul trouble as well picking up his fourth with just over five minutes remaining.

Loyola Chicago hit a stretch where it converted seven of nine shots and the Dukes struggled to keep up.

Clark had an opportunity to tie the game during the tail end of that barrage but missed both and Alston buried a layup.

During several instances in the second half, Duquesne had two and three-minute scoring droughts which led to Loyola Chicago creating separation.

All season long, Duquesne’s performance has taken after both Clark and Grant. Clark had several second-half miscues, and Grant shot 1-for-9 from the field.

Duquesne does not play again until Friday night when it hosts Dayton. This contest will be televised by ESPN2 and air at 7 p.m.