Duquesne Basketball

Duquesne Takes Down George Washington on Late Free Throws For 20th Win

Published

2 months ago

March 9, 2024

PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne Dukes were chasing history at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Saturday. It was an opportunity to clinch its second consecutive season with 20 wins for the first time since the early 1970s.

Both teams left it all on the line in an intense regular season finale on Senior Day, but it was Duquesne that outlasted George Washington with a 67-65 victory for its 20th of the year and fourth win in a row.

Duquesne basketball on Pittsburgh Sports Now is sponsored by The Summit Academy: setting young men on the path to a better future.

Knotted up at 65 apiece and the clock draining, Jimmy Clark III drove into the lane and was fouled. He then calmly sank two free throws that gave him 1,000 career points and sealed to deal for the Dukes.

Clark III led all scorers with 22 points on 7 of 18 shooting and a perfect 6 of 6 from the line. The Dukes went 11 for 11 from the charity stripe in the game, all coming in the second half.

It was a contest that featured 13 lead changes and multiple ties that would come down to the wire as Maximus Edwards’ tying attempt did not go.

It was no easy task, even with a George Washington team that sits in the bottom of the A-10. The Revolutionaries finally snapped a 12-game losing streak just days prior to their matchup with the Dukes.

James Bishop IV, who poured in a game-high 27 points against St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, continued his scoring ways with an up-and-under bucket to open the contest. His sweet left-handed stroke from beyond the arc made it a 7-4 game in favor of the Revolutionaries.

Not far behind, the Dukes turned to their bench with Kareem Rozier serving as the sparkplug as he scored six-straight points for the Dukes. His baseline jumper in front of the opposing bench gave the Dukes their first lead of the game, which was then followed by a steal and breakaway lay-in.

With the Dukes working inside for a good portion of the first half, they then went to the outside as Clark III buried consecutive triples to push the Dukes lead to eight as they went on a 12-2 run.

As Duquesne started to cushion its lead, Bishop IV had other plans as he scored six straight for George Washington to close the half, including a baseline jumper that fell in as the buzzer rang. Duquesne took a 34-30 lead into the locker room.

Staring down a small deficit, George Washington opened the second half shooting 4 of 5 from the floor with Jacoi Hutchinson and Trey Autry nailing 3-pointers to regain the lead.

Duquesne’s offense went quiet for a three minute and 35 second stretch before David Dixon went to work in the paint, scored and finished the and-one at the line.

Duquesne's 2024 March Madness Tournament coverage is sponsored by Leon's Billiards & More, Moon Golf Club and Archie's on Carson! Their contributions have allowed us to cover the Dukes run in Omaha, Nebraska. We appreciate their support!

The intensity continued to ramp up after both teams traded blows. It come to a peak when Grant lunged for a loose ball across the timeline, moved it to Fousseyni Drame. After Drame’s miss, Grant came in with the finish at the rim as the crowd erupted.

George Washington didn’t let the fired up faithful deter the Revolutionaries as Darren Buchanan Jr. went on his own 5-0 run that was topped by a key triple to thrust his team ahead by four.

Buchanan Jr. led the Revolutionaries with 19 points and seven rebounds.

However, Duquesne kept in stride. After an exchanging of hands, Clark III found a loose ball and ran the floor with a layup finish to put the Dukes up 61-58 with 3:31 left in the game.

Clark III followed that up with a thunderous slam to extend the Dukes’ lead to five, but it quickly evaporated thanks to a Maximus Edwards three and Babatunde Akingbola layup.

The Dukes climbed back ahead by two on a pair of Clark III free throws. Trying to go up by two possessions, the Dukes came up empty handed twice that led to Bishop IV tying to game at 65-65 on a jumper.

It was the senior Clark III on senior day that came up with the two free throws to win it for the Dukes.