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...
Robert Morris comes back again, this time over Saint Francis
So long? In perhaps the final meeting in their storied Western Pennsylvania men’s basketball series, Robert Morris kept to its season-long script, rallying from a sizeable first-half deficit Saturday to beat Saint Francis, 79-70, at DeGol Arena in Loretto. DeSean Goode’s 24 points and eight rebounds led Robert Morris (10-4),...
College basketball notebook: Robert Morris men have won 5 of 6 heading into weekend
Playing with virtually an entirely new lineup this season, Robert Morris again is streaking. Winners of five games in the past six — the loss was a two-point decision to Milwaukee — the Colonials (9-4) head east to the mountains Saturday for what might be their last time facing old...
Robert Morris men edge Youngstown State in OT in championship game rematch
Youngstown State had payback on its mind. Robert Morris had another idea. In a rematch of the Horizon League Tournament championship game victory that vaulted Robert Morris into the NCAA Tournament a year ago, the Colonials came from behind Wednesday night to again beat the Penguins, this time in overtime....
Pitt men slip to 5-6 on season after loss at Villanova
Pitt took on an old basketball acquaintance Saturday on the road, looking to end a two-game losing streak. In their first meeting with Villanova in 12 years, the Panthers couldn’t keep up. “We haven’t been able to sustain how we have to play in order to be good on either...
Duquesne men down Stony Brook behind John Hugley IV’s 25 points
At 6-foot-10 and 265 pounds, Duquesne’s John Hugley IV was making his presence felt, first outside the arc and then down low. Simply put, “Big John” was having another big game. “Just grateful that I can put this uniform on and share it with my teammates,” Hugley said Saturday after...
Duquesne storms back from behind to take lead but ultimately loses to William & Mary
The hole was too deep. The road was too long. Duquesne’s furious comeback wasn’t enough. But almost. “I’ll commend my guys on their fight. I do believe we showed some of that,” Dukes coach Dru Joyce III said. “We weren’t able to pull it out. We had an opportunity to...
Robert Morris men run home winning streak to 13
Nine games after a season for the ages and with the Horizon League opener looming, Robert Morris coach Andy Toole isn’t sure his current roster, which includes just one player from an NCAA Tournament team, has the makeup of a consistent winner. Ready or not, here comes the first conference...
Pitt hits late 3 to defeat Ohio State as time expires
“Polo! Polo!” The chants were loud, the cheers were real for Pitt’s Damarco Minor, the proud-talking fifth-year point guard they call “Polo,” who’s in his first season with the Panthers. Well, “Polo” just made a shot heard ’round Oakland. In just Minor’s eighth game at Pitt after spending a year...
Duquesne hits triple digits in win over Central State
Duquesne can be happy with the win. The Dukes’ defense? That’s another matter. Through seven games, it’s no secret coach Dru Joyce III’s focus has centered around the pace of his team’s play. “We’re not playing in the 60s now,” he said. “We’re playing in the 90s, almost.” With it,...
Duquesne has return to coach Joyce’s hometown spoiled by Northeastern’s 93-86 victory
AKRON, Ohio — Maybe it was too much for this particular group. Maybe the hype and festivities surrounding a game at their coach’s high school had consumed them. With all the planned activities during a small window of time, when it came game time, maybe they just forgot how to...
