Dukes put weak effort in past
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A snowy drive home Saturday night from Olean, N.Y., after a game against St. Bonaventure might have been one of the toughest for Duquesne this year.
Just a month after a dominant win at home against the Bonnies, the Dukes lost on the road, 69-48, and worse, appeared lifeless and lethargic after falling behind.
"We don't take losing lightly and our coaching staff doesn't allow us to take losing lightly," senior B.J. Monteiro said. "I just don't think we fought as hard as we were supposed to."
Coach Ron Everhart said at times during the game he questioned his team's effort.
- Matchup: Fordham (9-14, 2-8 Atlantic 10) vs. Duquesne (14-10, 5-5), 7 p.m. today, Palumbo Center.
- Radio, Internet: WPGB-FM (104.7), RedZoneMedia.com and GoDuquesne.com.
- Duquesne: Coming off a 69-48 loss at St. Bonaventure. ... F Sean Johnson (strep throat) is expected to be full strength. ... Senior G Eric Evans is six points shy of 1,000 career points, eight assists short of 300. ... Has played third-toughest league schedule according to Basketball State. ... Ranks 12th of 14 A-10 teams in free-throw percentage (.665), and last in rebounding margin (minus-6.5).
- Fordham: Coming off a 72-70 overtime loss to Dayton. ... F Chris Gaston had 23 points, eight rebounds in the game. ... F Kevin Bristol had a double-double with 11 points, 15 rebounds. ... Defeated then-No. 22 Harvard earlier this year. ...Trails in the all-time series vs. Dukes, 17-12.
- Hidden stat: Fordham has played in 11 games this season that were decided by 10 points or fewer. Its record in those games is 6-5.
And that's significant considering the reasons for most of the Dukes problems this season stem from more quantifiable deficiencies -- rebounding, poor shooting or failing to counter a size disadvantage with speed.
"I don't know that we've had that before," Everhart said. "There were some points in that game where I didn't think our effort was real good. A lot of that had to do with we made some bad decisions with the ball and had some execution issues early in the game. First game all year I saw us getting whipped off the dribble, and getting lethargic defensively."
First Published February 15, 2012 12:00 am
