Displaced Dukes hit the road even when they play 'home' games

It has been said winning can be like a drug to a competitive person.

Maybe that is why Keith Dambrot was in such a good mood Friday when he met with reporters.

After a thrilling 81-77 overtime victory Wednesday night in front of a hostile crowd at St. Bonaventure, Duquesne’s coach decided it was his turn to ask a question. He asked the group if anyone knew why his team often plays better on the road than it does in its so-called home games.

No one offered a satisfactory answer, but it should have been obvious.

“Good crowds, good fan base … a little more energy,” he said, referring to victories at St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis, two of the loudest, toughest venues for opposing players in the Atlantic 10. “We don’t really have a home court.”

Duquesne is 5-3 on the road in the conference, setting a school record for victories. Only the top three A-10 teams have more.

But the Dukes are 2-2 in conference games at PPG Paints Arena, where only 1,934 showed up Feb. 19 for a 70-67 loss to George Washington.

“The last time at PPG, a little low energy situation, a little harder,” Dambrot said.

The Dukes, who have been displaced while renovations continue on UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, have come off the road. But they still must climb onto a bus to play George Mason (15-13, 4-11) on Saturday night at Robert Morris.

Duquesne (19-8, 9-6) could collect its 20th victory for only the third time in 48 years (1981 and 2009), but when sophomore guard Sincere Carry was asked if he expects a decent crowd, he said, “Nah.”

Dambrot hopes to see a good Duquesne following, but he didn’t want to predict how many of his fans will make the 18-mile trip from Duquesne to Robert Morris’ campus in Moon.

“Not my realm. Not my deal,” he said. “My deal is to get them ready to play the game.”

He did that Wednesday when the Dukes stood up to the Bonnies (18-10, 10-5), who were 10-4 at home and had won six of their previous seven games.

Duquesne had lost six of nine prior to the trip to Olean, N.Y., but the Dukes made several big plays at crucial moments.

“We’re not dead yet,” Dambrot said. “We were in the coffin, but the lid wasn’t closed yet. We got it halfway closed. Got everybody who wasn’t all in out, and now we’re ready to go again.”

He said the road victory against one of the A-10’s best teams “gives you renewed hope … renewed optimism. Tells you that you’re a good team.”

Dambrot admits winning a 20th game would be a sign of progress at Duquesne, but his teams did it 12 times in 13 seasons at Akron (the exception was 2005, when his first Zips team won 19).

“I’m not a very patient person, and I’m not really thrilled with just having winning season,” he said. “What you don’t want to do is, you don’t want to flip backwards.

“I like our team coming down the stretch. I don’t know how it will end up, but I feel like we are in a good place. We have belief we can win against good teams.”

But the Dukes, who are 4-3 in February and tied for fifth in the conference, have had a difficult time maintaining consistent play.

“You just never know how it’s going to play out from minute to minute, game to game, rut to rut, winning to winning,” Dambrot said. “I feel like I’m a fireman. I put out one fire. I go to the next fire. The guys who are the best firemen generally win.

“I knew what I was getting into. If I wanted it to be easy, I would have stayed where I was. The last nine (coaches) got fired here, right?

“I didn’t know my bald spot was going to be as big as it is right now, but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”