Evan Rossman & Ben Deihl | staff writer & sports editor

The Duquesne Dukes five-game win streak finally came to an end following a 66-78 loss at UD Arena on Saturday afternoon, followed up with a devastating 67-56 home loss to Davidson. This marks the second time the Dukes have fallen to the Flyers this season, also falling to the Flyers at home on Jan. 13.

Dayton jumped out to a 13-5 lead after the first five minutes, and the Dukes would find themselves attempting to crawl back for the rest of the contest. Duquesne would eventually tie the game at 17 midway through the first half following a deep 3 from Alex Williams.

Williams then went on a one-man run, scoring 9 straight points for Duquesne, earning the Dukes their first lead of the contest. The Dukes and Flyers would wrestle over the lead for the remainder of the first half, as the lead changed hands five times over the last 10 minutes of the period.

The Dukes went into halftime only trailing by 3 points, largely thanks to their three-point shooting, as they connected on 7 out of 10 first half attempts. The Dukes only hit one more 3 the rest of the contest.

“We gotta have more poise, there’s some [shots] that we rushed, and we still have to move the ball,” Duquesne Head Coach Dru Joyce III said. “I think the ball movement hasn’t been crisp enough.”

Plenty more went wrong for the Dukes in the latter half of the game as they struggled to take care of the ball, turning it over eight times in the second half, totaling 13 for the game. The Flyers capitalized on Duquesne’s mistakes, scoring 15 points off turnovers, dominating Duquesne’s 3 points off turnovers.

Dayton didn’t look back in the second half, maintaining a steady margin that reached as many as 16 with five minutes to play. The Flyers were led by French forward Amaël L’Etang who tallied a double double, scoring 17 and securing 10 boards.

Duquesne lost their second consecutive game after their five-game win streak, falling to Davidson 67-56 Wednesday. The Dukes only scored 21 points in the first half en route to their lowest scoring total so far this season.

“These games, especially in conference play, just keep coming one after another. The days start looking the same, the sun still hasn’t come out in Pittsburgh” Joyce explained, “It can be monotonous at times. You gotta have a toughness to you.”

The Dukes started hot with both Tarence Guinyard and Alex Williams contributing early, but Davidson was able to earn a 14-13 lead midway through the first half, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The Wildcats went on a 7-0 run to balloon their lead to as much as 8, keeping Duquesne at bay while dominating in the paint and pulling down rebounds.

Davidson outrebounded Duquesne 42-33 throughout the contest, pulling down almost 10 more boards than their 33.4 rebound per game average, which is also below Duquesne’s 35.5 average.

Davidson’s Devin Brown was instrumental to the Wildcats’ success down low, pulling down six rebounds while contributing 11 points, good for second on the team. Off the bench, Sean Logan added another six rebounds, with three of them in the offensive zone in just 13 minutes.

Poor shooting was a theme throughout the game for the Dukes, posting a woeful 1-11 from beyond the arc in the first half and 20.8% for the game.

“[I don’t] believe that all 11 of those three were shots that we wanted to generate, we rushed a few,” Joyce said. “Even when we got to the paint, I thought we forced some.”

Joyce had no players available for comment after the game.

The Dukes shot 35.6% from the field against the Wildcats, paired with a 64.3% free-throw percentage, while NCAA leaders post an 80% average.

Guinyard was once again the lead man for the Dukes, scoring 20 points while adding five assists. Guinyard hit 3 of his attempted 8 triples, and the rest of his team only scored two additional 3’s.

Notably, Jimmie Williams only hit two field goals, going 0-for-6 from beyond the arc. Joyce mentioned postgame that Williams was dealing with a lingering injury, affecting his shooting ability.

Back in a starting role, David Dixon has blossomed into Duquesne’s lead big man. He was the Dukes’ second leading scorer, putting up 12 points and connected on his third three-pointer of the season. He also hauled in seven rebounds and blocked two shots, including an emphatic swat on JaQualon Roberts that energized the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse crowd.

Despite a competitive, back-and-forth second half, Duquesne was unable to dig out of its first half hole, falling to the Wildcats at home. The loss puts Duquesne at seventh in the A10 with three games left in the regular season.

Evan Rossman can be reached at rossmane@duq.edu

Ben Deihl can be reached at deihlb1@duq.edu