Dave Mackall stories, Page 7

Pittsburgh’s namesake school is usually the big man on campus during March Madness, but this year, the Duquesne Dukes are stealing the show, appearing in their first NCAA Tournament in nearly a half-century. While it hasn’t happened often, it might have 15 years ago had the Dukes gotten the right...

For a team facing the longest odds among eight underdogs in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament games, Duquesne doesn’t appear bothered. It’s been the Dukes’ calling card all season. “It’s all about staying the course, keeping steady, don’t let anything get you out of whack,” said the Dukes’ David Dixon. “If we...

N.C. State opened the NCAA Tournament where it left off in conference play — with a win. The surprising Wolfpack have been doing that a lot lately. Ben Middlebrooks scored a season-high 21 points, Mohamad Diarra went for 17 points and 12 rebounds, and ACC champion N.C. State used its...

Duquesne’s players weren’t ready for their coach to retire just yet, and Thursday, playing in the school’s first NCAA Tournament in 47 years, they showed him why. Now, Keith Dambrot is stuck coaching them again. “If we keep winning games, they’re going to make me an old man,” said the...

This is it for Keith Dambrot. This is the cherry on top for the diminutive Duquesne basketball coach, who is standing tall in his seventh and final season at Duquesne, where he’ll cap an impressive 22-year run as a Division I head coach. He has won 440 games in Division...

The Akron Zips took the short trip to Pittsburgh this week as the Mid-American Conference’s lone representative in the NCAA Tournament, but Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot, their former longtime coach, won’t be there Thursday to watch his old team take on No. 3 seed Creighton in a Midwest Region first-round game...

By now, you’ve probably caught wind of it a million times, the story of Jake DiMichele, the Duquesne basketball walk-on whose inspired play has helped lead the Dukes back to the NCAA Tournament after years of futility. What’s one more take on this feel-good vibe? It’s universally understood that DiMichele,...

The voice on the other end of the line was faint, and there was a dinging sound in the background. “Oh, wait, I need to buckle up my seat belt.” It was Penn Hills resident Moe Barr, the Duquesne basketball star from yesteryear, multi-tasking while talking on his cell phone....

Mossie Murphy, this one’s for you. After a 47-year wait, the Dukes can go dancing again. “I’m sure he would be up in the aisle dancing,” former Duquesne great Baron “B.B.” Flenory said of Murphy, the late political consultant from Pittsburgh and Duquesne’s most visible basketball booster back when the...

It was Dae Dae’s day. Riding the hot shooting of Dae Dae Grant, Duquesne surged Saturday into its first Atlantic 10 Tournament championship game appearance in 15 years. The Dukes are one win away from reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 47 years. “We told y’all, ‘Hop...

SIDMAN — A three-point halftime lead turned into a rout in a hurry for Greensburg Central Catholic. Once the Centurions girls found their legs in their state quarterfinal Friday night, there was no way of stopping them. “We definitely picked it up in the second half. We beat them by...

A five-game skid in early January to open Atlantic 10 play was like a New Year’s Day hangover for Duquesne. That seems like such a long time ago for the now red-hot Dukes, who’ve turned their season around in the second half. Behind Jimmy Clark III’s 16 points, including five...

There was no denying it. This win was special. Following Duquesne’s 83-73 victory over Saint Louis in a second-round Atlantic 10 Tournament game Wednesday night at Barclays Center in New York, Dukes coach Keith Dambrot spent a great deal of time discussing a number of subjects. It wasn’t until near...

On a playoff night when Greensburg Central Catholic’s leading scorer was held to two points, coach Chris Skatell turned to Erica Gribble’s teammates for an answer. They came through. Mya Morgan scored 15 points, Jayla Peterson added 14 and Avery Davis finished with 12 as WPIAL champion GCC jumped to...

There they stood, inside empty UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Drame twins, side-by-side. Quiet. Respectful. Unassuming. Don’t be deceived. These African-born brothers — they hail from Bamako, Mali — are a tenacious pair, anything but usual. They tend to unite in a sort of brotherly love manner. Spotting the Drames, Jimmy...

Duquesne senior guards Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark III were named Tuesday to the All-Atlantic 10 second team by a vote of the conference’s 15 head basketball coaches. Clark, who leads the league in steals (74), also earned a spot on the All-A-10 Defensive Team for a second consecutive...

Remember the City Game? It wasn’t long ago — 2018, to be exact — that Pitt was continuing its dominance over Duquesne in the intracity college basketball series, which is on pause. Neither of the school’s current coaches — Pitt’s Jeff Capel and Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot — has had much...

Of all the things that concerned the Duquesne basketball team Saturday, the one that mattered most was the final score. Sure, that’s important every game — Duquesne edged George Washington, 67-65, at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Jimmy Clark III’s two free throws with 2.1 seconds left, giving the Dukes their...

The Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball team did a lot of talking on its home court Friday night, but it had nothing to do with trash. The WPIAL champion Centurions were in sync for a first-round PIAA Class 2A test that resulted in another impressive performance for the state’s second-ranked...

His euphoric acclamation was a clear sign Mike Ziemianski couldn’t have been prouder. The former longtime Saint Vincent coach was overcome with emotion in the moments after the school’s recent club hockey victory over IUP, securing the program’s first College Hockey East playoff championship and third trip to the American...

ALTOONA — Ask Bentworth senior Chris Vargo what it means to win four regional wrestling championships, and the response might seem surprising. Even after a convincing decision Saturday against a nationally ranked opponent. “Right now, it doesn’t mean (anything),” Vargo said. On a night when Frazier standout Rune Lawrence notched...

Macky Bennis and his teammates hooted and hollered with Burrell’s rabid fans Monday night at North Allegheny. And why not? Moments earlier, the Burrell boys basketball team, the only double-digit seed remaining in the WPIAL playoffs, continued its improbable postseason run by knocking off yet another higher-seeded challenger. This time,...

For the second time, Robert Morris fell one basket short against Cleveland State, bolstering the Vikings chances for a Horizon League Tournament bye. Drew Lowder’s off-balance layup at the shot-clock buzzer and with just 1 second left in the game lifted Cleveland State to a 73-71 victory Sunday at UPMC...

Beware of the cushion. Cam Williams certainly was. When his Northgate boys basketball team took a huge early lead Friday night against Jeannette in the Flames’ eventual 55-44 victory in a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal at Mt. Lebanon, it put Williams in an uncomfortable place. “Jeannette has tough kids. They...

Robert Morris’ final homestand of the season began Thursday night with a whimper as another in a steady parade of Horizon League heavyweights harassed the outmanned Colonials. Trey Townsend scored 22 points and gathered 17 rebounds, and conference-leading Oakland completed a season sweep of Robert Morris with a 63-43 victory...