Duquesne Basketball
Duquesne Holds off Dayton Charge, Advances to A-10 Semis
NEW YORK — The last time Dayton and Duquesne got together on the hardwood, at Dayton’s UD Arena, the Dukes played the Flyers tightly all game before Dayton star DaRon Holmes II and the game got out of hand.
The recipe nearly repeated itself on Thursday, when Holmes scored 23 second-half points to lead the Flyers storming back from an early Duquesne lead.
But Jimmy Clark III had the final answer, hitting a crucial 3-pointer with under a minute left to seal what became a 65-57 upset win for the Dukes.
“It was an out-of-body experience,” Clark said to the Duquesne radio broadcast.
Duquesne knocked off the third-seeded Dukes advanced to the Atlantic-10 semifinal for the first time since 2009, and represents their longest stay in the tournament under Keith Dambrot.
Clark finished with 16 points to lead Duquesne. His big shot at the end interrupted a miserable half of shooting, as Duquesne went 11 of 32 (34.4%) in the second period, but Duquesne got 12 offensive rebounds to help the cause.
The Dukes held Holmes to one point in the first half before he nearly singlehandedly won the game with his huge second half. He finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
Dae Dae Grant had 11 points, and Jake DiMichele had nine. Tre Williams had six points and six rebounds and Fousseyni Drame had five points and nine boards.=
The Dukes will play St. Bonaventure in the second of two A-10 semifinals on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
The Bonnies were the No. 7 seed and upset No. 2 Loyola in the previous quarterfinal, making the Dukes the higher seed in the A-10 semis.
