Streaking Duquesne surges past No. 24 Dayton in Atlantic 10 quarterfinals

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 in the final 49 seconds, Duquesne continued its upward trajectory Thursday night in the Atlantic 10 Tournament quarterfinals at Barclays Center by upsetting No. 24 Dayton, 65-57, to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2009.

Dae Dae Grant added 11 points for the streaking Dukes, who won their sixth game in a row and beat a ranked team for the first time in 10 years.

“We’ve just been talking about being winners. That’s all we’ve talked about in the last probably six or seven weeks,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said. “They’ve really improved in that area.”

Have they ever.

Since that dark time that saw Duquesne’s record flirt with .500 after a 9-3 start, the sixth-seeded Dukes (22-11) have been on fire, winning 13 of their next 16 to continue their improbable push toward a possible long-awaited return to the NCAA Tournament, where they haven’t appeared in 47 years.

In 1977, the Dukes lost a first-round East Region game to VMI, 73-66, in College Park, Md., when the field included just 32 teams.

They’re one step closer to their sixth appearance and will take on seventh-seeded St. Bonaventure, a team they beat twice during the regular season, in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Similarly, Duquesne’s victory over third-seeded Dayton was its first in three tries after losing twice to the Flyers in the regular season.

“We know how it feels, so we know the type of fire they’re going to come out with,” Clark said of the Bonnies, who advanced with a 75-74 double-overtime victory over second-seeded Loyola Chicago. “We’ve just got to stay locked in and stick to the script.”

After faltering in their its first two matchups with Dayton, this time, it was different. This time, Duquesne could celebrate.

And celebrate it did, beginning even before the Clark could dribble out the final seconds of the clock.

The victory marked the first time Duquesne has beaten a ranked team since besting No. 10 Saint Louis on the road, 71-64, on Feb. 27, 2014.

Duquesne and St. Bonaventure will meet for the third time in the second half of a semifinals doubleheader on Saturday after fifth-seeded VCU takes on ninth-seeded Saint Joseph’s at 1 p.m. in the first one.

Duquesne defeated St. Bonaventure, 54-50, on Jan. 23 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse and 75-69 on Feb. 10 in Olean, N.Y.

“We got hit in the mouth early in the season, but we’ve responded,” Dambrot said. “We’ve been through a lot of these types of games. It goes deeper than just basketball. If you care about each other, then you’re going to play more the right way than if you don’t care about each other.”

Grant said the Dukes’ current success is more about a “brotherhood.”

“More than confidence, our maturity and togetherness is at an all-time high rate,” he said. “Our brotherhood is what’s keeping us rolling in the win column.”

Duquesne’s latest victory capped a day of surprises that saw all four higher seeds lose in the quarterfinals.

Earlier, Saint Joesph’s knocked off top-seeded Richmond, 66-61; VCU toppled fourth-seeded Massachusetts, 73-59; and St. Bonaventure rallied from a big second-half deficit to earn its double-overtime victory.

Against Dayton (24-7), Duquesne overcame DaRon Holmes II’s third double-double against the Dukes this season to hold a 30-18 advantage scoring in the paint.

Holmes, an A-10 co-Player of the Year this season, finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds after going without a field goal and scoring just three first-half points.

A 10-0 run, capped by Grant’s long 3-point shot from the corner, gave Duquesne a 58-52 lead with 3:53 left and erased a four-point deficit to the Flyers, when it looked as though Dayton would start to pull away.

From there, the Dukes retained the lead while Dayton tried to speed the pace and get more possessions.

But the Flyers couldn’t find the mark down the stretch and finished the game at just 32.0% shooting (16 for 50).

Despite the presence of the 6-foot-10, 235-pound Holmes, a national player of the year candidate, along with Duquesne big men David Dixon fouling out and Tre Williams heading to the sideline after being shaken up late, Dayton was badly outrebounded by Duquesne, 45-28.

The Dukes shot 42.1% (24 for 57) overall.

Duquesne’s third meeting with Dayton this season took a similar path to both regular-season games, when Duquesne led early and went toe-to-toe with Dayton, the conference preseason favorite, before fading.

But unlike the first two, when Dayton found another gear in the second half, Duquesne hung in and pulled off the upset on its third try.

“It really came down to pride,” Clark said. “Just talking to the guys without the coaches, we can’t let a team come in here and beat us three times in a row. That was the main focus, just come in here with some pride and some dignity and stand our ground.”

The Flyers, who finished third in the regular season to surprise winner Richmond and surprise runner-up Loyola Chicago, beat Duquesne, 72-62, on Jan. 12 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, then topped the Dukes, 72-59, on Feb. 13 at UD Arena after erasing a four-point deficit and with a 22-0 run to win comfortably.

Duquesne never trailed in the first half, leading by as many as 19 points. But the Dukes had to settle for a 30-28 halftime lead after Dayton finished the half on an 8-2 run.

Despite leading by only a bucket at the break, Duquesne shot 52% and out-rebounded the Flyers 25-11 over the first 20 minutes.

Clark and Grant, who led the way in Duquesne’s first-round 83-73 victory Wednesday night over 14th-seeded Saint Louis, combined for 13 first-half points against Dayton.

The Flyers, who shot just 30.8% in the first half, were led by it a pair of familiar transfers who carried the scoring. Nate Santos, from Pitt, and Enoch Cheeks, from Robert Morris, combined for 13 of the Flyers’ 28 points.

Santos finished with 10 points and Cheeks went scoreless in the second half.