Tristan Huyett | staff writer

After defeating Atlantic 10 Conference rival Loyola Chicago 69-56 on Saturday, Duquesne men’s basketball Head Coach Dru Joyce III opened with an honest statement.

“It’s better coming to the mic today,” he said. “Not gonna lie to you.”

Saturday marked the first time Joyce and company could celebrate a win since a Jan. 18 victory over St. Bonaventure. That win in January and Saturday’s against the Ramblers were separated by five straight losses, all against A-10 opponents.

The contest against the Ramblers saw the Dukes get out to a slow start offensively, as they shot just 39% from the field in the first half and converted only 3 of their 15 3-point attempts.

Despite the slow offensive start, the Dukes were able to force the Ramblers into several miscues, as the Ramblers committed 10 first-half turnovers compared to the Dukes’ three.

Joyce said that early defensive pressure was a part of his game plan entering the game.

“I really just tried to disrupt their rhythm.” he said. “When we’ve pressed teams, it’s resulted in teams not performing at a high level.”

After a shot-clock beating 3-pointer from Jakub Necas, the Dukes entered the locker room at halftime leading 34-27. Necas knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the contest, and stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, six rebounds and a sound defensive effort that included three blocks and two steals.

“I liked [Necas’] aggressiveness,” Joyce said. “Tremendous job, just continuing to crash the boards.”

The Dukes started the second half ice cold, as they started 0-11 from the field, until a Kareem Rozier 3-pointer gave the Dukes a 1-point lead.

Rozier, a junior, has long been viewed as a leader on and off the floor by his coaches and teammates. Joyce had more praise for him on Saturday.

“He’s played the game from a leadership perspective since before I ever had a chance to coach him,” Joyce said. “He’s continuing to develop and rise to the challenge.”

Rozier finished with 7 points, three assists and did not turn the ball over. Rozier’s 3.95 assist-to-turnover ratio currently leads the A-10 and is fourth in Division 1.

Rozier’s 3-pointer to open the second half scoring for the Dukes halted a 9-0 Loyola run and brought the Dukes offense alive, as they outscored Loyola 35-20 for the rest of the half.

“We didn’t score for like five or six minutes,” Necas said. “We just saw [Rozier] hit two good shots, he set the energy up.”

Another driving force behind Duquesne’s second-half surge was junior forward David Dixon, who scored all 10 of his points in the second half while adding six rebounds and a block.

“He played with a different type of mentality,” Joyce said. “He brought a physical presence in the interior.”

As the teams traded baskets late, Dixon hit a shot from behind the arc to give the Dukes a two-possession lead which took the wind out of the rallying Ramblers’ sails.

“Any three Dave hits is huge,” junior guard Cam Crawford said. “When Dave hits a shot like that it can kind of take the life out of a team.”

Dixon was one of four Dukes to reach double digit points, with Necas, Crawford (11) and senior guard Tre Dinkins III (12) joining him.

As the Dukes were looking to put the game away, Crawford hit a three-pointer and promptly pointed into the crowd to celebrate.

“I was celebrating with my mom,” Crawford said. “She doesn’t get to come to a lot of games, so any time she’s in the building it’s always special for me.”

Overall, the Dukes shot 29% from three-point range as a team and shot 43% from the field overall. Duquesne held Loyola to 38% from the field and outrebounded them 37-35, including a 13-9 advantage on the offensive glass.

“Just continuing crashing the boards gave us extra possessions,” Joyce said. “That was huge.”

With the win, Duquesne moved to 10-14 overall, and 5-6 in A-10 play. It is familiar territory for Duquesne, as through 11 conference games last season, the Dukes’ A-10 record sat at 4-7. Duquesne rallied to finish 6-1 in their last seven conference games and eventually won the A-10 championship.

“I’ve been here before,” said Necas. “It’s kind of like a Cinderella story all over again.”

The Dukes will hit the road for a matchup versus conference rival Dayton before returning home to take on another A-10 foe in Fordham. They look for revenge against both teams, having lost by 20 points to Dayton and losing by 2 points to Fordham in back-to-back games last month.