Evan Rossman & Leo Martinez-Valerio |staff writers

The Duquesne Dukes men’s basketball team improved to 4-5 in conference play with a convincing 76-61 win over the Rhode Island Rams at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon. This victory marks the Dukes’ first win at home since conference play began, snapping a four-game slide on their home court.

“I hope [the win] excites people,” Head Coach Dru Joyce III said. “There’s a confidence that comes with it, and we just have to keep building that up.”

Junior guard Jimmie Williams started off hot for the Dukes, scoring 11 of their first 13 points and connecting on all 3 of his 3-point attempts in the first 5 minutes. Williams’ start acted as a catalyst for a 16-4 Dukes run to open the game, expanding the home team’s lead to as many as 9 less than 7 minutes into the game.  

Williams continued to score at a high level throughout the game, leading the Dukes with 22 points, his fifth time reaching the 20-point mark in a game this season.

The Dukes stifled Rhode Island’s offense in the first half, only allowing 27 points and out-rebounding them comfortably, helping them to a 10-point lead at the break. Rhode Island was clearly disadvantaged playing without leading scorer junior guard Jonah Hinton for the second game in a row, sidelined due to an ankle injury. Guard Tyler Cochran and Junior forward Jahmere Tripp stepped up in place of Hinton, scoring 18 and 15 points, leading the way for the Rams.

The start of the second half brought misfortune for the Dukes, as they gave up three offensive rebounds, two turnovers, and sent Rhode Island’s Tyler Cochran to the line all in the first 90 seconds. The Dukes would settle into the second half not long after, as a three from Senior Guard Terance Guinyard would extend the lead to 12 points. Rhode Island would not go down easily, however, as a 11-2 run over three minutes would cut the Duquesne lead to 5 with just under 8 minutes to play.

The Dukes responded with a run of their own that would last until the final buzzer, out-scoring the Rams 19-6 over the final seven and a half minutes of the game. These final minutes were a true team effort, as six different Dukes scored over the stretch, including a dagger 3 from junior guard Brandon Hall, who notched his third straight start on Sunday. Hall’s triple brought the Duquesne lead to 16 with just over 3 minutes to play, putting the game on ice.

“We’ve had some peaks and valleys as a team, but I think what’s important for us going forward is to continue to build our connection,” Joyce said. “We have to be a strong unit as one. We can’t separate it all. Our connection has to be tight whether at home or on the road.”

Defense was paramount for the Dukes in this win. The team secured 38 total rebounds with Williams and forward John Hugley IV leading the way with 12 combined defensive rebounds.

“We took pride in defense,” Tarence Guinyard said. “That was a big thing we’ve been struggling with lately.”

With a team that has been struggling on defense, Duquesne’s coaching staff made sure to emphasize strong defensive play, which in turn will allow the offense to operate with less pressure.

The Dukes held Rhode Island to 38.9% true shooting over the contest, and the Rams were only able to knock down half of their attempts from the charity stripe. Duquesne forced 13 turnovers and Rhode Island committed 21 personal fouls, getting in their own offense’s way.

“[The coaches] emphasized stops,” Williams said, “and I feel like we got them. Then we went on our own little run.”

The Dukes went into seventh place in the A-10 after the victory, and they’ll look to build off of it as they travel to Fairfax, Virginia to take on George Mason University on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

With the win, Duquesne heads into the back half of their conference schedule with key matchups that have conference and national tournament implications, including Dayton on Feb. 21 and a late season rematch with nationally-ranked Saint Louis.

Evan Rossman can be reached at rossmane@duq.edu

Leo Martinez-Valerio can be reached at martinezvaleril@duq.edu