Dukes strike quickly in 84-65 win against Lafayette
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Of all the things Duquesne did well Saturday night in a 84-65 win against Louisiana-Lafayette at Palumbo Center, coach Ron Everhart was most pleased with the defensive intensity the Dukes flashed right out of the gate.
The Dukes held the Ragin' Cajuns to 22 percent from the floor in the first half on their way to a 44-23 lead at the break. They scored 31 points off turnovers by game's end and grabbed 28 defensive rebounds.
"I was really excited about our defensive effort [Saturday night], especially in the first half," said Everhart, whose Dukes never trailed.
"Coming off the Valparaiso game, I was very concerned about us on that end of the floor. I liked our energy and intensity. I really like the fact that we shared the ball. I feel like we beat a very good basketball team."
They also did a few things well on offense -- particularly sharing the ball effectively and getting double-digit scoring from six players.
B.J. Monteiro and Sean Johnson led the way with 16 points apiece, Eric Evans, T.J. McConnell and Mike Talley scored 12, and Jerry Jones added 10.
The win raised Duquesne's record to 4-2 heading into its meeting Wednesday with Pitt in the City Game at Consol Energy Center.
"Some teams that are [getting ready to play] their arch-rival [next] focus on that game and let their opponent that night slide, and it'll hurt them," said McConnell, who also had seven assists.
"We did a really good job focusing on Louisiana-Lafayette."
Duquesne jumped to a 44-23 halftime lead on two big runs and never trailed.
The Dukes went up, 11-2, out of the gate, then used an 11-0 run to make it 39-19 with 1:17 left in the first half.
They shot 59.3 percent in that half and held Louisiana-Lafayette to just 8 of 36 shooting from the floor in those first 20 minutes.
The Ragin' Cajuns best player, J.J. Thomas, was held to one basket in the half.
"We bothered them a lot with our defense," said Evans. "We did a good job playing behind them and making sure they didn't get out on a break. We were able to stop them in transition, and that helped us out a lot."
The Ragin' Cajuns outscored the Dukes, 7-5, at the start of the second half, but never got the gap under 17 points.
"We lost that intensity in the second half. I was about one play away from benching everybody," said Everhart. "Then, we started to make some plays, and next defended a little harder.
"[Louisiana-Lafayette] came out, were not happy with the first half, and they got after us. We saw that ballclub in the second half that we expected -- the type of team we knew they are. They shot extremely well in the second half."
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NOTES -- Defensive back Rich Piekarski joined the basketball team as a walk-on last week, just days after the Dukes' football season ended.
First Published November 27, 2011 12:00 am
