Duquesne pushes past Fordham for 2nd straight Atlantic 10 victory

Duquesne is showing it can win ugly.

All of a sudden, that’s fine with the all-of-a-sudden resurgent Dukes.

Just ask David Dixon, their electric sophomore forward, whom coach Keith Dambrot often jokes about as “taking the bad with the good.”

In Saturday’s 68-59 victory against Fordham at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, there was a lot more good to celebrate for a Dukes team that is trying to reverse a losing trend that resulted in an 0-5 start in Atlantic 10 play.

And the 6-foot-9 Dixon was right in the middle of it.

“Offense will sell tickets, but defense will win championships,” said Dixon, who came off the bench to produce 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, six rebounds, three blocks and three steals for Duquesne (11-8, 2-5).

His steal and layup with 4 minutes, 49 seconds left gave the Dukes a 49-47 lead, and they pulled away, building a 12-point advantage before cruising to their second ugly victory in a row.

“It’s Jan. 27, and I think we finally figured out our formula to win, and it’s kind of how it’s going to be,” Dambrot said. “It’s going to be mud wrestling. If you play good defense every night, you’re going to have a chance. On top of it, we didn’t turn the ball over (only eight times).”

Freshman Jake DiMichele, the nonscholarship walk-on from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart who drew his fourth straight starting assignment, scored a career-high 15 points to lead Duquesne.

While the 6-4 guard, who ranks third all-time in scoring in the WPIAL, misfired on all four of his 3-point attempts, he made every one of his other shots, finishing 6-of-10 shooting in a team-high 32 minutes.

“Even when I wasn’t playing, I was still enjoying it,” said DiMichele, who was recruited out of Washington County’s First Love Academy by a handful of Division I and II schools. “I love being here, and I love this team, being in practice every day with them. Being out there on the court is fun. I’m just trying to wake up every day and thank God and really soak in every moment I’m out there because you never know when it’ll be your last.”

At the start of the season, Dambrot was saying DiMichele’s performances in practice were so impressive that his relatively unknown freshman was “close to starting.”

His opinion hasn’t changed.

“Nothing phases him,” Dambrot said. “He’s my kind of guy. We’d be in deep trouble without him. He’s saved us.”

In the wake of his latest performance, Dambrot called DiMichele “one of our best players. He just doesn’t look like he’s an NBA guy or a high-level player. He just goes out there and fools everybody. He got 15 points, and he guarded. Ever since he’s played, our 3-point defense has improved because he contests shots. He’s a tough kid. He deserves everything he’s gotten. He’s earned every minute of it. I’m waiting for him to hit the wall, and he hasn’t hit it yet.”

Dambrot expanded his rotation to 11 players for the second game in a row, but he doesn’t know if it will become a regular practice.

“Is our rotation set? Not really,” he said. “We’re just kind of playing it by ear a little bit. It’s who’s playing well, what’s good for this particular game? It’s relatively set, but that’s the least (point guard Kareem Rozier) played all year. Just felt like it was not a great night for him, so we went with Jimmy (Clark III) at the point.”

For the second game in a row, the Dukes pulled off a grind-it-out victory in a game that included plenty of missed shots and a ton of stoppages in play.

Throw in some physical defense that created waves of players crashing to the floor, and it was similar to the Dukes’ ugly, 54-50 victory Tuesday against St. Bonaventure.

“All the hard work we’re putting in is bearing fruit,” Dixon said. “We put in long hours on defense. Sometimes, we won’t even touch a ball. Now, we’re starting to settle in and win games. Defense is really the reason.”

Clark added 12 points to go with a team-high seven assists for Duquesne.

Neither team could convert in close with any consistency and were similarly poor from behind the 3-point arc.

Duquesne missed its first 12 attempts from long range and finished 1 for 13, and Fordham (9-11, 3-4) closed with a similar showing of 4 for 22. Overall, the Dukes shot 47.1% (24 for 51) and limited the Rams to 36.8% (21 for 57).

Duquesne led Fordham 44-38 early in the second half but fell behind when the Rams went on a 9-0 run for a 47-44 advantage.

The Dukes regrouped to take a 56-49 lead with 3:35 left and never trailed again.

When Fousseyni Drame drained a long 3-pointer from the corner as the shot-clock buzzer sounded — Duquesne’s only make from the 3-point line — the Dukes enjoyed a 60-51 lead with 2:47 to go.

Duquesne, whose largest lead was 64-52, put an exclamation point on the victory when Fordham coach Keith Urgo was tagged with a technical foul after the Rams were whistled for a personal foul under the Duquesne basket.

Dae Dae Grant, back from a concussion that kept him sidelined for three games, sank both free throws followed by two more from Clark, giving the Dukes their 12-point cushion.

Fordham was led by Elijah Gray’s 19 points. Antrell Charlton added 11.

The day began with Fordham building a 6-0 lead at the first timeout, 4:10 into the first half.

When the teams returned to the court, Grant was part of the Dukes lineup, making his first appearance in four games after sitting out with that concussion.

Almost immediately, the senior guard made an impact, sinking a pair of free throws for the Dukes. He entered the game ranked third in the nation at 94.3% (82 for 87) and improved on it by making all five of his attempts.

The ugly play continued until Fordham ground out a 28-27 lead at the half, as the teams scored in a flurry late after Duquesne had taken its first lead with 3:53 to go on a bucket by Dusan Mahorcic that put the Dukes ahead 20-18.

Duquesne steps away from A-10 play for the final time Wednesday, when Chicago State visits UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, before the Dukes return to conference play with a trip Saturday to Rhode Island.