OMAHA, NEB. – The No. 11 seeded Duquesne College males’s basketball staff continued its historic season with a 71-67 win over No. 6 BYU within the First Spherical of the NCAA Division I Males’s Basketball Championship on Thursday afternoon in Omaha. It’s the first NCAA Match win for the Dukes since 1969.
HISTORY MAKERS
The 2023-24 Dukes enhance to 25-11 on the season with their ninth straight victory, probably the most wins since a faculty document 26 in 1954 (26-3). Duquesne’s final NCAA Match win got here within the East Area comfort sport at Maryland’s Cole Subject Home, 75-72, over St. John’s on March 15, 1969.
STARTING STRONG
Duquesne jumped out in entrance 9-0, holding the Cougars scoreless by way of the primary media timeout. Dae Dae Grant drained a triple on the primary possession of the sport sparking the quick begin. Within the first half, the Dukes shot 48.5% from the ground and held a double digit lead 4 instances. The DU benefit bought as much as as many as 12 factors (33-21) on the 2:51 mark after a 14-1 run answered BYU’s first lead of the sport.
HELD ON FOR HISTORY
The Dukes prolonged their eight level halftime lead (38-30) to a game-high 14 (46-32) simply over three minutes into the second half, however DU needed to fend off the Cougars’ comeback effort. BYU chipped away and tied the sport at 60 with 1:48 to play. Duquesne responded with 5 factors in a row and held on for the four-point win.
DOWN THE STRETCH
Duquesne went 9-for-10 from the free throw line within the remaining 88 seconds with makes an attempt from three totally different gamers (Jimmy Clark III: 3-4, Jakub Necas: 2-2, and Dae Dae Grant: 4-4).
QUOTABLE
“I assumed we did an unbelievable job of taking their punches and punching again,” mentioned Coach Dambrot. “They wobbled us for certain. We had been wobbly-legged. We had a minimize underneath our eye, over our eye, however we simply saved combating again.”
TRUST THE DAMBROCESS
Head coach Keith Dambrot introduced his retirement on Monday after seven seasons with the Dukes and 26 years as a head coach, however he isn’t executed simply but. “They simply will not let me retire, man. I am attempting to retire. We preserve profitable video games, they’re going to make me an outdated man,” mentioned Dambrot within the postgame press convention. The win was Dambrot’s first in 4 tries on the NCAA Match (0-3 at Akron in 2009, ’11, and ’13).
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Dae Dae Grant led the way in which with 19 factors, together with three triples. Freshman Jakub Necas added a career-high 12 factors and 6 rebounds in a season-high half-hour of motion. Jimmy Clark III had 11 with 4 assists and 4 steals. Fousseyni Drame pulled in a team-high eight rebounds and scored eight factors.
The Dukes completed capturing 46% on the day to BYU’s 39%. On the defensive finish, DU recorded seven blocks and 7 steals.
Duquesne held the lead for 38:50 of the 40 minutes.
QUOTABLE
“I believe the most important factor is our toughness is on show, and if you happen to’re a tricky staff, each mentally and bodily, you could have an opportunity to win,” mentioned Coach Dambrot. “I believe these guys’ toughness over the 12 months has actually improved, which has made us an excellent basketball staff.”
UP NEXT
Duquesne advances to the Second Spherical of the NCAA Match on Saturday in Omaha and can tackle third-seeded Illinois, who defeated Morehead State this afternoon (85-69).
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