Spencer Thomas | editor-in-chief

Tre Dinkins celebrated his senior day with 20 points, fueling a second-half surge that boosted Duquesne to an 85-68 win over George Mason at Cooper Fieldhouse on Saturday. It was the most any team has scored on the Patriots all season, including second-ranked Duke.

The rest of his Dukes shot 15-of-31 from 3-point-range, which was crucial to a 22-6 run that turned a 4-point deficit into a double-digit lead.

George Mason is second in the Atlantic 10 Conference and had won 16 of their last 18 games, calling for an at-large bid. However, for better or for worse, this Duquesne team plays at the level of its competition. It has lost to four of the five worst teams in the league. They have also beaten three of the top four, having yet to play first-place VCU.

Prior to the game, Duquesne celebrated Senior Day, honoring members of the program whose time on The Bluff has come to an end. Jashean Corbett and Dinkins were both brought out, before exiting the game to standing ovations from the crowd.

Running on high from the celebration, Dinkins flew out the gate. He scored Duquesne’s first points on a short jumper and carried it into halftime with a game-high 11 points. 

“Obviously, it was a big day for me,” he said. “I tried not to get emotional. But at the end of the day, it’s just going out there, playing for each other.”

However, the story of the first half was Duquesne’s defense. While running out to a 10-2 lead, the Dukes suffocated the Patriots, forcing them to commit a bunch of turnovers, as well as a shot-clock violation. It appeared effortless, not characterized by desperate, hustling closeouts, but by methodical positioning. The Dukes didn’t panic to get in front of the ball because they were already there. 

We just tried to be as disruptive as we could,” said Duquesne Head Coach Dru Joyce III,
“and alter their sets and try to throw their timing off. I think our pressure allowed us to do that.”

George Mason committed 20 turnovers. Once they got the ball going downhill, the Dukes were unstoppable.

“Our defense helped our offense,” Joyce said. “We were strong defensively.”

However, that performance started to wane. Duquesne committed a couple poor fouls, and Mason was able to retake the lead late in the first half. The Patriots’ run continued, and they opened the second half on an 11-4 spurt, leading 43-39. Then, Dinkins changed the game with a 3. It spurned a 22-6 run, and Duquesne’s 4-point deficit became a double-digit lead. The two catalysts of that spurt were David Dixon and Maximus Edwards, who each had a pair of 3-point possessions. They joined Dinkins in double-digits with 13 and 14, respectively. Cam Crawford was second on the team with 16. He and Dinkins combined to go 11-of-17 from beyond the arc.

“I think when 3s are falling it’s kind of contagious,” Crawford said. “I mean, once one person sees two go in, everybody gets pretty hype about it.”

With 7 minutes left, Dinkins silenced any doubt of the result with a two 3-pointers in 13 seconds that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

During a break in the first half, Duquesne honored members of its 1977 men’s basketball team, which until last year, was the most recent to play in March Madness. Among them was superstar Norm Nixon, who went on to play in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers. It led to a heart-warming moment right after, when every member of the squad stopped by the media table to greet their radio play-by-play broadcaster Ray Goss, who remains at Duquesne, now in his 57^th year on the job.

Finally, Duquesne honored the arena’s namesake, Chuck Cooper. Labeling it the “Chuck Cooper Classic,” Duquesne spent the entire game honoring their 1950 alum who became the first African American drafted to the NBA.

“I told them ‘today is special,’”Joyce said. “See if we can excite the fans and play to the best of our capabilities.”

Duquesne will play its final home game of the year on Tuesday, when they host league-best Virginia Commonwealth University at 7 p.m.