Duquesne heats up from 3-point range, drops George Mason

They made the old guys proud.

On Senior Day and with members of Duquesne’s 1977 Atlantic 10 men’s basketball champions in the house, the current Dukes put on a championship-caliber show on Saturday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

Tre Dinkins III scored 20 points, Cam Crawford added 16 and the duo combined for 11 of 17 3-point shots to lead hot-shooting Duquesne to an 85-68 victory over George Mason in the annual Chuck Cooper Classic.

“Today is a big event, and I told them today is special. Let’s see if we can excite the fans and play up to the best of our abilities,” Duquesne coach Dru Joyce III said. “You have to do that with a certain will. From the start of the game, with our attention to detail, we were pretty sharp.”

Maximus Edwards added 14 points, and David Dixon chipped in 13 for Duquesne (13-16, 8-8 Atlantic 10), which shot 48.4% (15 for 31) from 3-point range.

The Dukes overall shot 52.9% (27 for 51). George Mason nearly matched that percentage, finishing at 52.4% (22 for 42), but the Patriots, who entered the game a half-game behind A-10-leading VCU, made just 6 of 15 3-pointers and committed 20 turnovers.

The 85 points were the most scored this season against George Mason, which was yielding an average of 63.2.

“We came out and let them know we’re here, and it’s going to be a long night for you guys,” Crawford said. “That’s kind of the mentality we wanted to set, and we did a good job of doing that.”

Jalen Haynes led George Mason (22-7, 13-3) with 14 points. K.D. Johnson added 11, and Woody Newton finished with 10 for the second-place Patriots, who dropped a full game behind VCU heading into the final week of the season.

Duquesne, which has won four of its past five games, will entertain VCU on Tuesday in its final home game before closing out the regular season Saturday at Saint Louis.

Dixon’s 3-point shot with 13 minutes, 40 seconds remaining capped a 9-2 Duquesne run that gave the Dukes a 48-45 lead they would not relinquish.

Dinkins made 6 of 9 shots from behind the arc, including two during a 13-second span in the second half that opened up a 69-53 lead with 6:21 left. He finished 7-of-11 shooting overall.

“Our defense helped our offense,” Joyce said. “We were strong defensively — we forced 11 turnover in the first half. We did a really good job of progressing, continuing to play with pace and getting into the paint.”

Crawford shot 5 for 8 from 3-point range, and Edwards was 3 for 6.

“We just played with the utmost confidence,” Dinkins said. “Our effort and intensity led to our execution, especially in the second half.”

On Sunday, the 1977 Duquesne team, which reached the NCAA Tournament, was set to be inducted into the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Hall of Fame during ceremonies at Montour Country Club.

Earning enshrinements as part of the Legends Class are former Duquesne guards Tom Cvitkovic (1980-82), Lonnie McClain (1975-78) and Norm Nixon (1973-77).

Former Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot, who retired after last season’s NCAA Tournament run — the Dukes’ first appearance since that 1977 team — will join former Washington High School coach Ron Faust for the coaches portion of the class, and Dambrot’s father, the late Sid Dambrot, who played for the Dukes from 1952-54, is one of the “In Memory” inductees.