Duquesne MBB Defeats BYU, Wins First NCAA Tournament Game Since 1969

OMAHA, Neb. — The Duquesne Men’s Basketball Team advances to the NCAA Tournament second round, winning its first game in the event since 1969, besting BYU 71-67 Thursday afternoon at the CHI Health Center.

Dae Dae Grant led Duquesne with his 19 points, while Jakub Necas achieved season highs of 11 points and six rebounds. Jimmy Clark III recorded 11 points. Fousseyni Drame finished play with eight points and eight rebounds.

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This is Keith Dambrot’s first ever NCAA Tournament victory in his fourth attempt, earning the result in his final season.

BYU was led by Jaxson Robinson 25 points, while both Dallin Hall and Spencer Johnson posted 11 points.

The Cougars bench outscored Duquesne 40-18.

Early on it was Duquesne which proved to be the aggressors, specifically from the defensive end. The undersized Dukes battled down low for rebounds with Fousseyni Drame coming away with a trio of boards.

Grant opened the scoring with a triple, while the defensive havoc the Dukes created forced the Cougars to miss each of their first six shots from the field.

BYU went the first 6:23 without scoring a basket, a streak which was snapped on a Robinson triple.

Just prior to that, Duquesne had its lead reach double digits when David Dixon converted an and-one play.

The Dukes did have Drame pick up his second foul just over five minutes into the half. A Grant three pointer off of a Necas pass briefly restored the lead into double figures.

BYU went on a 6-0 run to restore some flow of play, as the Cougars twice connected from beyond the arc.

Matus Hronsky then made his presence felt from the bench, scoring off a fastbreak opportunity.

BYU’s 7-0 run placed the Cougars in front and silenced both the Duquesne faithful as well as its bench. That noise was quickly restored when Jake DiMichele connected off of a deflection from three-point range.

As Cougars post Aly Khalifa drove the post, he saw daylight, but Necas had a clean ball from behind, which transitioned into a Grant basket, activating a BYU timeout call.

Duquesne’s defensive intensity picked up once more as part of a 12-1 run in which BYU went 4:14 without a field goal.

During the stretch, the advantage stretched to 12 when Dusan Mahorcic beat the buzzer down in the paint.

BYU’s response began with a Noah Waterman three-point basket. Waterman’s triple was initially reviewed to be a two-point shot as Clark committed a foul while trying to position for a potential missed shot.

The play was reviewed and through Duquesne fans protesting for a potential flop call the play was ruled a made two-point field goal. It would later be ruled a three during a media stoppage.

Johnson made a pair of free throws and a 9-0 Cougars run separated the teams by three points.

That was when David Dixon found Necas for a natural three-point shot. Kareem Rozier then jumped in front of a pass and found Necas who embraced the physicality and converted a contested two pointer.

As Duquesne led 38-30 at halftime, Necas slowly walked off the floor, surrounded by teammates hugging him for his efforts.

Drame made an impact in the second half on a loose ball as he clashed with Waterman and play became physical. Both benches nearly cleared with Mahorcic having to be held back by the entire bench.

When Drame emerged, restrained by official Sean Hull, he urged the Dukes fans to make noise, which they did.

Both Drame and Waterman received technical fouls for their role in the sequence.

On BYU’s next possession, Dixon got a steal and on the fastbreak dunked the ball. An 8-2 Duquesne run was emphasized by Grant finding DiMichele for a corner three-point basket, stretching the advantage to 14 points and activating a second Cougars timeout on a 13-2 run.

BYU would come out of the media timeout going on a 6-0 run, but Necas would quell that with a basket.

A 7-2 Cougars run saw the Dukes unable to consistently find its shot, and when Robinson made a layup, coach Keith Dambrot called a timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the team were separated by a point when Drame picked up an and-one play. Entering the final media timeout, Duquesne led by two points.

When BYU inbounded the ball, Clark got the steal and dunk. The Cougars would bounce back to tie the game.

The aggressive Clark would sink three of four to put the Dukes back in front.

Down the stretch, Duquesne ran clock with Clark charging down the line to separate the teams by five points.

The Dukes buried their fouls shots, but BYU remained in the fight at the line and Hall’s triple separated the teams by two points in the closing seconds.

Grant sank a pair of free throws coming out of the timeout and after Robinson could not connect from deep, the Dukes could safely celebrate.

Duquesne will play the Illinois and Morehead State winner Saturday.