Duquesne Outlasts Rival St. Bonaventure on Road, 75-69

Duquesne faced rival St. Bonaventure on the road in a sold out Reilly Center in upstate New York Saturday afternoon and came out with a great 75-69 victory.

The Dukes (14-9 overall, 4-6 Atlantic-10) win their second game against the Bonnies (14-9 overall, 5-6 Atlantic-10) this season, beating them 54-50 at home on Jan. 23. This makes it the first time that the Dukes have beaten the Bonnies twice in a season since 2008-09, winning both games in January 2009.

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This is also the third straight win for the Dukes over the Bonnies, with a win in Pittsburgh back in February 2023 joining this season’s two victories. This is the first time the Dukes have beaten the Bonnies three straight times since 2009-10, when they beat the Bonnies at home in January 2010, joining the wins in January 2009. It is also the first road win for the Dukes in St. Bonaventure, N.Y. since February 2020, ending a streak of three losses there.

Duquesne has now won five of their past six games and four of their past five conference contests, after starting 0-5 in the Atlantic-10.

Duquesne and St. Bonaventure played it close for most of the first half, finding themselves level at 19-19 with seven minutes left. First-year guard and walk-on Jake DiMichele led Duquesne with six points and graduate student guard Charles Pride scored seven points on two layups and and-one opportunity off a layup for St. Bonaventure.

The Dukes would outscore the Bonnies 15-4 to earn a 36-23 advantage going into halftime. Senior guard Jimmy Clark III hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the run for the Dukes, graduate student forward Fousseyni Drame made two free throws and a 3-pointer and sophomore guard Kareem Rozier hit a jumper and a layup to make the bulk of the scoring during the run.

Clark ended the half with a great no-look pass to sophomore forward Halil Barre in the paint, who dunked it prior to the shot clock with three seconds remaining.

The Bonnies shot 2-for-13 from the field and 0-3 from behind the arc during the run, with a period of four minutes without scoring.

Clark began the second half with a layup and senior forward Tre Williams scoring down in the block to increase Duquesne’s lead to 40-23.

St. Bonaventure would use a 9-2 run to cut the lead back to 10 at 42-32, with graduate student guard Mika Adams-Woods making a 3-pointer and two free throws plus Pride making two foul shots and a layup.

The Dukes would increase their lead back to 16 at 54-38 with 9:15 remaining, with five different scorers contributing a total 12 points compared to the Bonnies’ six.

Despite falling behind consistently, St. Bonaventure would cut Duquesne’s lead to single digits with an 8-0 run over two and a half minutes. Redshirt junior forward Chad Venning made a hook shot and two free throws,  Adams-Woods made a mid-range jumper and Pride hit two free throws for the St. Bonaventure on their run.

Sophomore forward David Dixon would end the three minute scoreless drought with a layup and Drame hit a floater to put the Dukes back up 58-46.

Both teams traded baskets, with Dukes senior guard Dae Dae Grant making a layup to keep them in front, 63-54. Adams-Woods hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to six for the Bonnies, which led to them setting up their press with 1:18 left.

The Bonnies would get within four at 65-61, as they managed to get one turnover, but the Dukes dealt with their press well overall. Dixon made a big dunk, but Bonnies redshirt senior guard Daryl Banks III made a 3-pointer to cut it to three points.

Duquesne would win this game at the free throw line, going 10-for-10 during St. Bonaventure’s press. Grant, the best free throw shooter in the A-10, made it to the line three times for six easy points, continuing his long streak of consecutive mad free throws. Drame also made four three throws himself.

Drame led the Dukes with 16 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double and Clark, who fouled out late in the second half, finished with 15 points and a team-high eight assists.

Duquesne will have another difficult road test in their next game on Tuesday, as they take on rival No. 18 Dayton. Dayton won the first meeting back in Pittsburgh, 72-62 back on Jan. 12.