Dukes blow big lead in 2nd half, fall in OT
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Duquesne's T.J. McConnell drives for two of his game-high 28 points Wednesday. -
Duquesne's Mamadou Datt dunks against Saint Joseph's Wednesday at Palumbo Center.
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For 30 minutes Wednesday, Duquesne covered the absence of its leading rebounder and used its perimeter shooting to pull almost out of sight.
During the final 10, Saint Joseph's used its perimeter shooting to erase a double-digit lead.
The Hawks forced overtime and won, 84-82, at the Palumbo Center, erasing a 16-point Duquesne lead with 9:48 remaining in Duquesne's first game of Atlantic 10 play.
"[Coach Ron Everhart said] we didn't guard anyone from the 15 minute point on," Dukes guard T.J. McConnell said. "I agree with him."
Saint Joseph's (11-4, 1-0) worked its way back slowly. The Dukes led, 77-75, with less than a minute remaining and the Hawks' Ronald Roberts facing two free throws, but he missed the first and the Dukes led by a point. Sean Johnson made only one of his two free throws with 15 seconds remaining, allowing the Hawks' Carl Jones to hit an off-balance jumper with six seconds left that tied the score at 78-78.
Roberts and C.J. Aiken made shots in overtime and Roberts hit two free throws. Duquesne had a chance trailing by two points with one second left, but the Dukes' last-second shot missed.
"It wasn't a stylistic win, but it was a road win, and they're invaluable, really," Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said.
McConnell scored 28 points and made 10 of 16 field-goal attempts. His five 3-pointers helped the Dukes (9-6, 0-1) shoot 61 percent from 3-point range.
The Dukes had no problem scoring without B.J. Monteiro, who will miss two to four games due to cuts sustained when he was struck by a bottle on New Year's Eve. They even outrebounded the Hawks at halftime, but Saint Joseph's finished with a 42-30 edge in rebounds without Monteiro's team-leading 5.7 per game.
"We didn't box anyone out," McConnell said "We did a good job of rebounding in the first half. I think we got a little lazy in the second half."
Martelli said he switched to a larger lineup in the second half, which helped eliminate the rebounding imbalance.
First Published January 5, 2012 12:00 am
