Duquesne Suffers Significant Injury in Win over Dayton

NEW YORK — The Duquesne Dukes have used a lot of their depth to win two games in the 2024 Atlantic-10 tournament and advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2009.

If they want to continue to advance, that depth will be test, as Duquesne suffered a major injury late in the team’s 65-57 quarterfinal win over the Dayton Flyers on Thursday.

Forward Tre Williams went down while blocking a shot with 2:11 left in the game and did not return. He suffered a left shoulder injury that could be serious.

Head coach Keith Dambrot would not rule Williams out from playing in Saturday’s Atlantic-10 semifinal against St. Bonaventure, saying Mitchell is a “tough kid,” but he acknowledged that it will be an uphill battle for the forward to get back on the floor so quickly after a significant injury.

“I think our depth is good,” Dambrot said. “It’s gonna get tested again because Tre Williams is pretty banged up.”

The Dukes do have significant depth, regularly playing 11 players, far more than most at this stage of the season. They were doubly challenged late against Dayton because not only was Williams injured, but fellow starter David Dixon had fouled out.

“I think we can withstand quite a few things,” Dambrot said. “It’s going to come into play in the next couple games, for sure. We have a lot of good players. I wouldn’t say we have a lot of great players. We have a lot of guys who are very similar.”

With Dixon and Williams unavailable, Dambrot went to graduate senior Fousseyni Drame for all of the final 7:54, and freshman Jakub Necas for the last 2:11 after Williams’ injury.

Drame had six of his nine rebounds in the second half and Necas had a block and a rebound with 1:15 to play that set up Jimmy Clark’s game winner.

They are among the options to replace Williams if he unable to suit up against the Bonnies. Duquesne and St. Bonaventure are scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. tip on Saturday.