With Jake DiMichele finally healthy and defense ramping up, Duquesne looking like A-10 title team of 2024
There was no apparent limp, no favoritism for that once-troublesome foot. Jake DiMichele, the darling of local fans at Duquesne and a key part of the Dukes’ 2024 Atlantic 10 championship and NCAA Tournament team, has (knock on wood) proclaimed himself 100% healed. Finally. For DiMichele, the WPIAL’s third all-time...
Robert Morris avenges blowout loss to Oakland to earn 4th straight victory
Nope, not this time. From the start, it was apparent Robert Morris wasn’t about to let it happen again. The Colonials’ worst Horizon League loss of the season — a 23-point beatdown more than a month ago at Oakland — was behind them. It was time to return the favor,...
Short-handed Panthers routed by North Carolina, also missing starters
The hits keep coming for the Pitt basketball team. North Carolina was next in line to take a shot at the undermanned Panthers, and the 11th-ranked Tar Heels — shorthanded themselves — registered another knockout punch. Seth Trimble and Jarin Stevenson scored 19 points apiece to lead four double-digit scorers...
Tarence Guinyard’s scoring spurt helps Duquesne hold off George Washington
Back and forth they went. This one was going to the wire. Even with Duquesne’s Tarence Guinyard scoring 16 of his 27 points in succession during a crucial stretch late, the Dukes struggled to break free from George Washington. In the end, they survived Trey Autry’s potential game-winning 3-pointer as...
After uneven start, Duquesne men’s basketball team seems to be building toward A-10 tourney run
Remember two years ago? David Dixon wishes he could forget it. Don’t be confused: Duquesne’s elder statesman is quite proud of the late-season run he and his team made en route to just the school’s second Atlantic 10 championship in men’s basketball. Just don’t keep bringing it up, all right?...
Robert Morris wins for 4th time in 6th games, beating Wright State
The defending champs are coming back. Not that Robert Morris has won anything yet, but a victory Wednesday night over the current Horizon League leader is a start for the Colonials, who won their first Horizon Tournament championship last season and look to be making a late-season run. Ryan Prather...
Pete Strobl launches The Scoring Factory PREP basketball academy in Pittsburgh
Basketball fanatic Pete Strobl, the personal shooting coach with a knack for public speaking and clinical leadership, is brainstorming again. Founder of Pittsburgh-based The Scoring Factory, Strobl on Tuesday announced plans for a new and unique boys basketball program designed for high school players seeking a post-graduate season. “Welcome to...
Where are they now? After losing starting lineup to portal, Robert Morris men’s basketball team forges ahead
If it were simple, it stands to reason that way more mid-major college basketball teams would be thriving. Outside of the bluebloods, however, the process of assembling a championship-caliber team in this age of name, image and likeness (NIL) rights doesn’t come with a guarantee. The pieces just might not...
Behind Jimmie Williams’ 22 points, Duquesne takes down Rhode Island
After five attempts, Duquesne finally has its first Atlantic 10 victory at home this season. “I hope it excites people,” coach Dru Joyce III said. “Our players are pretty excited.” Jimmie Williams scored 22 points and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds, Tarence Guinyard added 14 points and Duquesne...
Charleroi boys beat Mt. Pleasant in meaningful matchup with history
Joe Dunn was back in the house Friday night at Mt. Pleasant. So were some of his former players. Including Mark Katarski. The two men went head-to-head in a boys basketball matchup of Section 4-3A teams fighting to stay in the WPIAL playoff race. Dunn’s Charleroi Cougars, behind Xavion Thomas’...
Duquesne men surrender lead in 2nd half against St. Bonaventure
Dru Joyce III quietly seemed annoyed. For a time, he scrapped his usual articulate dialogue and preferred to cut to the point. Mellow in nature, Duquesne’s basketball coach clearly was chafed. “Got off to a good start. Didn’t finish half as strong as we needed to,” Joyce said Wednesday night,...
Robert Morris falls to Green Bay in another close loss
The winning record aside, Andy Toole’s 16th season as Robert Morris’ basketball coach arguably has been his most confounding. Just ask him. “This is the latest in the year that I don’t really know what my rotation is on a game-to-game basis,” said Toole, who at 29 when he took...
Central Catholic boys sweep Hempfield in convincing fashion
It’s late, and the Central Catholic boys basketball team is growing impatient. The WPIAL’s third-ranked team in Class 6A wants more respect. The Vikings certainly earned it Friday night at Hempfield, blasting the fifth-ranked Spartans for a second time this season and keeping pace with Section 2 co-leader Upper St....
Robert Morris men get key Horizon League win vs. Milwaukee
As Robert Morris’ lone returning player from last season’s Horizon League winner, Ryan Prather Jr. knows the feeling of a champion. He’s hoping his new teammates soon feel it, too. Prather scored 23 points for his fourth consecutive game of at least 20 and second time in a row with...
Duquesne men can’t keep up with Saint Louis at home
Even in the modern era, it’s not unheard of for a Top 25 basketball game to pop up at Duquesne. It happens every once in a while in the mid-major Atlantic 10. Tuesday night was one of those times with No. 24 Saint Louis in the house, and Duquesne, long...
After spate of injuries, Pitt-Greensburg women’s basketball team gets back on the court
For much of her time, Pitt-Greensburg sophomore Jocelyn Bielak has been playing basketball and loving every minute of it. Even when times have been tough. An injury-ravaged season came to a halt earlier this month for Bielak and the Bobcats when UPG was unable to fill out a lineup, the...
Duquesne falls to 1-3 in A-10 with loss to Dayton
With “Big John” back in the house, the Duquesne Dukes welcomed Dayton to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse with a renewed sense of urgency. On the defensive side, that is. In the end, however, even with the return of senior forward and second-leading scorer John Hugley IV from a six-game suspension, the...
Hugley returns to Duquesne lineup against Dayton
After serving a six-game suspension for what Duquesne men’s basketball coach Dru Joyce III simply described as a “coach’s decision,” John Hugley IV returned to the Dukes lineup Tuesday night against Dayton at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The enigmatic senior forward, Duquesne’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, was a starter in the...
Duquesne guards stress need for defensive improvement
Jimmie Williams, one-half of Duquesne basketball’s dynamic backcourt duo, appears to have had enough. Same for Tarence Guinyard, the other half. Something, they agree, has got to change. Never mind that Guinyard leads Duquesne at 16.9 points per game and was the second-leading scorer in the A-10 behind only Fordham’s...
Robert Morris falls to Purdue Fort Wayne for 3rd loss in past 4 games
It was early in the first half when Andy Toole took a few steps and buried his head in his hands. Robert Morris’ basketball coach already was fretting. Who could blame him? His reigning Horizon League champs have hit a skid, and Toole, the conference’s returning Coach of the Year,...
VCU holds off Duquesne in Atlantic 10 battle, snaps Dukes’ 3-game winning streak
Dru Joyce III is no zebra. If he were, Duquesne’s basketball coach probably would have seen more of his talented guard tandem together on the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse floor Saturday against defending Atlantic 10 champion VCU. As it was, junior Jimmie Williams — like his senior backcourt mate Tarence Guinyard,...
Robert Morris comes out on short end of close game vs. Northern Kentucky
Another Robert Morris basketball game. Another close outcome. After winning its two most recent games decided by five points or fewer during a span of four days, RMU wasn’t so lucky Monday night against Northern Kentucky. Donovan Oday scored 16 points, including two free throws with 11.1 seconds left, and...
Again without big man Hugley, Duquesne men roll to another victory
Duquesne’s final nonconference basketball game came and went Saturday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse without a glimpse of the Dukes’ second-leading scorer and rebounder for a third consecutive game. John Hugley IV, where are you? “No comment to that,” Duquesne coach Dru Joyce III said following the Dukes’ 99-49 rout of...
Noah Felentzer leads Southmoreland boys to win vs. Ligonier Valley
Noah Felentzer glanced at the Southmoreland bench and tapped his chest. The Scotties senior guard regretted taking an errant 3-point shot. It was perhaps his only lowlight on a night when he scored 31 points to power Southmoreland to a 60-47 victory over visiting Ligonier Valley in a Section 4-3A...
Duquesne men’s basketball dominates Canisius at homeVideo
Opera singer Per Jellum’s rousing rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” drew notable applause and set the stage Monday night for a perfect storm at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, the home of Duquesne. And the blizzard began immediately. Duquesne jumped on Canisius, kept its foot on the accelerator until the final horn...
