Duquesne’s Atlantic 10 home opener on New Year’s Eve brought out a second layer of hoops fans to The Bluff as the Dukes played host to their largest home crowd of the season Saturday afternoon at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

And, while there were some anxious moments, the Dukes didn’t disappoint their faithful, running away from Rhode Island for a 72-61 victory before a crowd of 2,887 and shrugging off a loss three days earlier to conference preseason favorite Dayton.

“This was a team effort. It was fun. It was exciting, and the fans did a wonderful job of giving us energy,” said Duquesne’s Joe Reece, who led the Dukes with 18 points.

The attendance was the most at 3,500-seat UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, which opened in 2021, since 3,032 showed up for a 64-56 loss to St. Bonaventure on Jan. 21, 2022.

Dae Dae Grant added 14 points to go with a career-high nine rebounds and Jimmy “Tre” Clark chipped in 13 points for Duquesne (11-4, 1-1), which turned up the defensive pressure in the second half against Rhode Island.

“We had a chip on our shoulder,” Reece said. “It was a tough loss at the last game.”

The victory ended a 17-game regular-season A-10 losing streak for Duquesne. The 2022-23 Dukes inherited a 16-game streak and added to it with a 69-57 loss on Wednesday at Dayton.

Duquesne’s most recent A-10 victory was a 78-74 decision at Massachusetts on Jan. 8, 2022.

“It’s always special when you win,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said. “When you lose, there are no holidays.”

Dambrot, who inched closer to his 500th career coaching victory — his 25-year record is 495-284 (.635) — was quick to acknowledge the Cooper Fieldhouse crowd’s energy.

“It was a good crowd. No question it helped us,” he said. “This can be a special place. It’s been so dormant for so many years. A lot of fans have that self-fulfilling prophecy, ‘What’s going to happen next at Duquesne?’ When somebody wins at a high level here, this can be a neat place to play.”

Duquesne clung to a 36-35 halftime lead but quickly fell behind in the second half.

The Dukes used a 12-1 run, fueled by Reece’s seven points, to seize a 34-29 advantage before allowing Rhode Island to pull within a point at the break.

Rhode Island (4-9, 0-1) built some early momentum to start the second half.

Ishmael Leggett’s jumper gave the Rams their final lead at 46-45 before Duquesne erupted for a 10-0 run to go in front 55-46 on a 3-point shot by Kareem Rozier with 10 minutes, 40 seconds left.

“He was the MVP,” Dambrot said. “He played like the winner he is.”

Rozier, a freshman point guard, was part of an 11-man rotation and backed up starter Tevin Brewer for 16:37, connecting on both field goal attempts for five points to go with three rebounds and one assist.

Brewer, though scoreless, dished out a team-high six assists as Duquesne finished with 18 assists on 25 baskets and committed just six turnovers, two by Rozier.

“For us to bounce back the way we did is great,” Rozier said. “We bounced back the very next day (at practice). We just figured we lost that (Dayton) game together. We’re one unit.”

The Dukes completed a 16-2 run with consecutive 3-pointers by Clark III and Reece to build a 61-48 advantage before Rhode Island managed to cut the deficit to 65-60 on 1 of 2 free throws by Malik Martin with 5:14 to go.

Duquesne regrouped, however, and slowly pulled away down the stretch, limiting the Rhode Island to a single point the rest of the way.

When Reece went to the floor in the final minute to grab a loose ball and found Clark for a breakaway three-point play, it iced the 11-point victory.

Jalen Carey paced Rhode Island with 15 points. Brayon Freeman and Leggett added 10 apiece for the Rams, who also got a game-high 11 rebounds from Martin.

Duquesne shot 37.9 % — 45.0 from 3-point range (9 for 20).

“I felt like we had chances in the first half to lengthen our lead,” Dambrot said. “We missed some shots, but I felt like we played pretty good and moved the ball. We got tired and tentative at times in the second half.”

Duquesne, which has played 12 of its first 15 games at home, will remain at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse through a Wednesday night game against VCU before hitting the road for three contests against Richmond (Jan. 7), Saint Joseph’s (Jan. 11) and St. Bonaventure (Jan. 18).

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