Duquesne's season ends with loss in 1st round of CBI

A men’s basketball season of promise for Duquesne came to a screeching halt Sunday in an 84-78 first-round loss to Rice at the College Basketball Invitational in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Still, Duquesne finishes the year with a 20-13 record, a remarkable turnaround from last season’s 6-24 debacle that represented the worst record in Keith Dambrot’s 25 years as a college coach.

“We didn’t play very good at the end of the year. Our warts came out, and we didn’t quite get what we wanted,” Dambrot said. “But overall, we’re in good shape.”

Quincy Olivari scored all of his 19 points in the second half, Travis Evee added 17 and Max Fiedler finished with 16 to lead No. 12 seed Rice over No. 5 Duquesne at the Ocean Center convention complex, sending the Owls (19-15) into a second-round game Monday against No. 4 Southern Utah.

Rice shot 57.1% (32 for 56) and outscored Duquesne in the paint 46-18.

Dae Dae Grant led the Dukes with 28 points.

Despite Duquesne’s late-season collapse, Dambrot remained optimistic heading into the offseason, where he’s hoping to keep his current group intact, despite a record number of players already having entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Duquesne recently implemented a name, image and likeness (NIL) program known as Red and Blue Collective that Dambrot hopes will aid players in a bid to be compensated under the NCAA’s new rule and ultimately serve as a vehicle to retain players.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we lost somebody, but we’re going to do what we can to keep this team together,” Dambrot said.

He decided to play in the CBI in Florida, despite its entrance fee, to provide another opportunity for his players to spend time together.

“These guys worked hard all year, and they genuinely like each other,” Dambrot said.

Duquesne returns nearly its entire starting lineup, including guards Grant and Jimmy Clark III, the team’s top two scorers, and leading rebounder Tre Williams.

The Dukes notched their second 20-win season in the past four years under Dambrot, who earned his 500th career victory on Feb. 8.

While it was the third defeat in a row and fifth in the final seven games for Duquesne, Dambrot kept a positive outlook for next season, which is his last of a seven-year, $7 million contract.

Dambrot said he hasn’t much considered what’s in his future beyond next year, adding that he’s already turning his attention to bolstering the Dukes’ roster.

“We have to fill some needs that are a little bit different than last year,” he said. “We need to score on the block. We need consistent low-block scoring, and we have to get bigger on the wings to help us defensively. Obviously, we need another point guard to go with Kareem (Rozier), and we need (another) shooting guard.”

With the current roster, which includes five players out of the transfer portal in the past two years, Duquesne was a surprise team in the Atlantic 10. The Dukes were picked to finish last among 15 teams but challenged for a conference tournament double-bye late into the regular season before finishing tied for sixth place in the A-10 standings.

It was still good enough to earn the Dukes a bye.

But they couldn’t take advantage, struggling to recapture the magic from earlier in the year — they defeated regular-season champion VCU and opened February with four victories — and lost a first-round A-10 Tournament game to La Salle.

On Sunday, Clark added 13 and Tevin Brewer scored 11 for the Dukes, who trailed for much of the game. Duquesne dropped to 2-4 all-time in CBI games.

Grant also shot 6 for 12 from 3-point range, giving him 94, which ranks third all-time in a Duquesne season. The Dukes’ 14 3-pointers brought their total to 302 this season, second only to the 322 in 2016.

The teams entered the day after long layoffs — Duquesne 11 days and Rice 10 — and it showed as they combined for 25 turnovers, 14 by Duquesne. The Dukes made 14 of 36 3-pointers (38.9%).

Duquesne’s last lead came on a dunk by Joe Reece with 9 minutes, 43 seconds remaining to give the Dukes a 58-57 advantage. But, an Evee jumper pushed Rice back in front for good, and the Owls held on, building an 11-point lead with 1:39 remaining on a pair of free throws by Mekhi Mason.

Rice settled for a 37-32 halftime advantage after leading by as many as 13 points in the first half. An 11-0 run put the Owls in front 28-20 as Duquesne went without a point for 5:06.

But Grant scored eight points for Duquesne during a 10-0 run, aided by a technical foul on Rice, that pulled the Dukes within 35-32 with 33 seconds left before intermission.

Evee’s jumper just before the halftime buzzer gave Rice its five-point cushion.