Josh Imhof | staff writer

After suffering a loss to Davidson last week in North Carolina, Duquesne men’s basketball won in an 85-81 upset against Saint Joseph’s at home Wednesday night in an overtime thriller.

Duquesne quietly went 5-2 through December with a statement win against Rhode Island, and with Wednesday’s win it is now 2-1 in Atlantic 10 Conference play, giving it a much better league standing than its nonconference record would suggest.

The winning effort was led by David Dixon, who was a monster on both ends of the court. His night was punctuated by his game-winning 3-pointer with four seconds to go in OT. Prior to Wednesday, Dixon had gone just 1-5 on 3-point attempts all season.

“I’ve worked on my shot a lot,” Dixon said. “I worked on it a lot before the game today. I hit the one in the first half so I had a little bit of confidence in myself going down the stretch,” he said.

Dixon went 2-3 from the arc, adding to a total of nine 3-pointers on 22 attempts for the Dukes. On defense, he had three blocks on the day, with two coming in crucial moments of the game.

With two seconds to go in the fourth, the game was locked at 73-73 after two clutch free throws from Cam Crawford. The Hawks drove down the court, and leading scorer Rasheer Fleming attempted a game-winning layup that Dixon sent flying toward the stands.

Dixon’s other block came with 22 seconds left in overtime and was rebounded by Kareem Rozier, giving the Dukes possession and the opportunity to call a time-out.

“I eat, sleep, dream, blocking shots, I just wanna win games,” Dixon said.

Another standout performance came from guard Tre Dinkins. Last Saturday at Davidson, Dinkins went 0-7 from the field in a game that was out of character for the Dukes third-leading scorer. On Wednesday, he bounced back and dropped a season high 26 points with four 3-pointers, three of which came consecutively, putting the Dukes on a 9-0 run.

Dinkins said it was a great turnaround for him and the Duquesne roster as a whole which has struggled in nailbiters this season thus far.

“It was a great effort on both ends of the floor,” he said. “Dave made a big time play down the stretch. I feel like our defense was pretty solid also down the stretch. Overall, it just feels good.”

Each player on the floor had a significant impact on the game, including Jahsean Corbett, who finished with nine rebounds, and Rozier, who ended with five assists.

Although the game ended in a victory, the 10-6 Hawks were as tough as advertised for Duquesne. After falling intro as much as a 12-point deficit, the Hawks were able to tie the game and even take the lead. Both teams traded high-pressure possessions down the stretch, which included major free throws made by the Dukes that they have had trouble making. Even after Dixon’s block on Fleming, the Hawks blew an opportunity with just a second left when Justice Ajogbor missed a dunk.

The Hawks were led by sophomore Xzayvier Brown and big man Rasheer Fleming, who scored 15 points in the second half after being held to just three in the first.

“Those two are really good,” said Duquesne Head Coach Dru Joyce. “I thought in the first half, we made them see bodies. We caused some turnovers, we took away some driving lanes. In the second half, we didn’t do quite as good a job of that.”

The lapse in defense in the second half can possibly be attributed to the loss of Jakub Necas, who exited the game in the first half with an apparent ankle injury after missing the game at Davidson with a head injury. Joyce had to rely heavily on Dixon and Matúš Hronský for size with the absence of Necas and the limited availability of Chabi Barre, who is still recovering from a quad injury. With big men running short on the bench, Corbett logged 39 minutes.

Coming out victorious against Saint Joe’s despite the dwindling amount of healthy options, Joyce and the Dukes now enjoy a week-long break to get healthy until they head to the nation’s capital to face George Washington. The Revolutionaries have a strong record, albeit against weak nonconference competition. Regardless, Joyce acknowledged the challenge of playing away games in the A-10.

“They’re going to be ready to protect their home,” he said. We can’t be stuck in the past.”