Dukes finally break out of Spiders' web with 81-72 win
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Duquesne's Eric Evans, middle, and a teammate battle Richmond's Josh Duinker for a rebound in the first half Saturday at Palumbo Center.
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For 10 seasons and 14 consecutive games the Richmond Spiders owned Duquesne.
Saturday night, that all changed.
Leading from start to finish, Duquesne knocked off Richmond, 81-72, in the Chuck Cooper Classic with a dominating performance at sold-out Palumbo Center.
"I'm really satisfied we were able to do that tonight. Not so much because it was against Richmond, but because [of] who we were honoring," said coach Ron Everhart, whose team wore red throwback jersey's from the 1950s on a night when the school and team honored Cooper, a Dukes alum who was the first black player drafted in the NBA in 1950.
"What Chuck Cooper meant to basketball period. He's basketball's Jackie Robinson. That transcends time. That's a real special occasion for us."
Duquesne won the boards, 39-31, forced Richmond into 16 turnovers, shot 46.8 percent, and held the Spiders to two field goals in a stretch of 12 minutes to start the second half.
The only area the Dukes struggled was at the free-throw line, going an unspectacular 18 for 31, including 7 for 12 in the final two minutes.
After improving their record to 14-9, 5-4 in the Atlantic 10, Duquesne's seniors stressed how important it was to get this win.
"They're a good team, but tonight we made them play a little faster ... " said B.J. Monteiro. "Our guards are doing a lot better job rebounding. We need help when we're a small team."
Five players scored in double digits for Duquesne, which dropped the Spiders record to 12-12, 3-6 while winning its second game in a row. Eric Evans had 17, Jerry Jones 14, Sean Johnson 14, T.J. McConnell 13 and Monteiro 10.
The Spiders 6-foot-11 Josh Duinker and 6-6 Derrick Williams scored nine and 16 points, respectively, yet Duquesne limited guard Darien Brothers to four.
"They were obviously bigger than us. We wanted to have our guards create," said Evans. "That's what we did tonight. Had a lot of people knocking down shots and finishing."
Duquesne took a 14-5 lead six minutes into the first half.
A bad inbounds pass by Richmond sailed over center court and was retrieved by McConnell in full sprint. He turned and fed Johnson underneath for an easy layup after Richmond's fifth turnover.
The Dukes led by as many as 10 points before the Spiders closed to one with 2:30 left in the first half, but Monteiro scored on his own rebound and McConnell used a steal and a layup to make it 35-29.
The Dukes led, 35-31, at halftime, then held the Spiders to two field goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half.
Richmond scored six free throws in that span, but did not come alive from the floor until the final minutes. The Spiders used a 12-5 run in the last two minutes to close within seven at 79-72 with 38 seconds to play.
McConnell hit his last two free throws, and Brothers missed a final attempt from 3-point distance as the game's final seconds wound down.
"They shot the ball really well, especially late," said Everhart. "I don't think our kids expected them to shoot it that deep, which allowed them to make a run at us."
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NOTE -- Duquesne is off for a week before visiting St. Bonaventure next Saturday.
First Published February 5, 2012 12:00 am
