Unlikely 3-point shooter lifts Duquesne past Saint Joseph's in overtime

The 6-foot-9 David Dixon, known more as a shot-blocker than a 3-point shooter, wants everyone to know he can hit that shot when it matters. The Duquesne junior forward connected from long range in overtime Wednesday night against Saint Joseph’s when it mattered most.

He wasn’t bad on defense, either.

Tre Dinkins III followed a scoreless effort four days earlier by notching 26 points, Dixon’s 3-pointer broke a tie with 4.8 seconds remaining in overtime and Duquesne held on for an 85-81 victory at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, the Dukes’ fifth win in six games.

“I’ve been working on my shot a lot. I was working on it a lot before the game today,” said Dixon, who went 2 for 3 from behind the arc and is now just 3 for 7 on the season.

Duquesne coach Dru Joyce III rolled his eyes and told Dixon he better keep working.

“If he wants to take more 3s, he’s going to have to get up more reps in practice,” Joyce said with a laugh. “Let’s go with his defense first. He’s always, since Day 1 here at Duquesne, been a staple on the defensive end. His rim-protection, his ability to step out and guard smaller guards …

“He brings a lot of versatility to us on defense. If it wouldn’t be for some of the foul trouble, he’d have even more blocked shots. He plays so hard.”

Finally, Joyce got around to linking Dixon to the offensive side of things.

“As far as a sharpshooter goes, the guy has unbelievable confidence in himself,” Joyce said. “He’s not the go-to guy, but he’s capable of making a 3. It’s not something that new. They swung it to him and he made the shot. It’s no different than he’s done in practice. I just love Dave at the end of games because he has a confidence and gamesmanship to him that he just believes that he can go make the play. That’s why he stepped in and made that 3.”

The night was filled with spectacular passes, sizzling 3-point shots, crisp fast-breaks and high-flying dunks.

Oh, and some bonus play to boot.

Duquesne and Saint Joseph’s were putting on a show, and when the curtain finally came down, the homestanding Dukes walked away with a spectacular victory.

“It was a great effort on both ends of the floor,” Dinkins said. “Obviously, Dave made a big-time play down the stretch.”

Dixon made a lot of “big-time” plays for the Dukes, most notably blocking two shots — one in the closing seconds of regulation and one in overtime — and taking a gutsy charge late while playing with four personal fouls.

His last 3-pointer broke an 80-80 tie and gave Duquesne the lead for keeps.

After the Dukes took the lead on Dixon’s shot, Duquesne’s Kareem Rozier fouled Saint Joseph’s Xzayvier Brown with 2 seconds to go.

Brown made the first shot and intentionally missed the second, but the Dukes’ Eli Wilborn was able to corral the rebound, and the St. Francis (Pa.) transfer sank both free throws to seal the outcome.

Cam Crawford’s two free throws for Duquesne with 23 seconds left in regulation sent the game into overtime.

Dixon added 17 points and Crawford finished with 13 for Duquesne (7-9, 2-1 Atlantic 10).

Rasheer Fleming led Saint Joseph’s (10-6, 1-2) with 20 points. Brown added 17, Derek Simpson chipped in 12 and Justice Ajogbor contributed 10 for the Hawks, who entered the game with some impressive credentials, having beaten a trio of high-major teams in Villanova, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech, the latter a 20-point shellacking.

Among Saint Joseph’s losses was a nine-point decision against Texas.

But, Duquesne wasn’t buying it.

The Dukes prevailed despite losing 6-9 Jakub Necas in the first half to an ankle injury after he sat out Saturday’s 77-71 loss at Davidson with a hamstring issue, when Dinkins went scoreless and teammate Jahsean Corbett scored a career-high 29 points.

Duquesne will attempt to get healthier during a week off until its next game Wednesday at George Washington.

Necas was day-to-day after returning to the Duquesne bench in the second half, though not able to continue playing.

Sophomore guard Jake DiMichele, who has sat out nine of Duquesne’s 16 games while recovering from plantar fasciitis, was cleared to practice, and Joyce said it was possible he’d be ready to play in a week’s time against the Revolutionaries in Washington, D.C.

Dinkins and Corbett flip-flopped roles against Saint Joseph’s, Dinkins shooting 10 for 20 overall and 4 for 12 from 3-point range to finish with that game-high 26, while Corbett failed to score, though he contributed nine rebounds and five assists.

Joyce, disappointed in Dinkins’ play on Saturday, said his senior guard responded with a monster effort this time out.

“He understood that effort on Saturday wasn’t good enough,” Joyce said. “He was locked in tonight. He was aggressive and found some shots. Our guys found him. He’s a good shooter. He’s very capable of doing that, and he shoots the ball well off the bounce.”

Dinkins connected on a pair of 3-point shots to help Duquesne build a 50-38 second-half lead, but the Dukes eventually lost their advantage on a Brown layup to fall behind, 60-59.

From there, it was a back-and-forth war with neither team leading by more than four points down to the wire.

“It feels good to put Saturday behind us,” Dinkins said. “It was a great turnaround.”