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Duquesne gets back on track with win over Loyola (Md.)

Dave Mackall
| Wednesday, November 19, 2025 9:54 p.m.
Dave Mackall | For TribLive
Loyola’s Troy Cicero Jr. passes the ball in front of Duquesne’s Jimmie Williams on Wednesday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

Following its first hiccup of the season, Duquesne found its stride again.

John Hugley IV scored 20 points, Tarence Guinyard and Cam Crawford added 19 apiece and the Dukes rebounded from their first loss of the season to beat Loyola (Md.), 92-78, Wednesday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

All 11 players in the Duquesne lineup scored as coach Dru Joyce III continues to experiment with player combinations early in the season.

“Chemistry and connection is an ongoing thing,” he said. “It’s a big thing. It’s a challenging thing as well.”

But it can be a good thing.

“We have a team full of starters,” said Crawford, who rebounded from a miserable performance that saw him score just one free throw in Duquesne’s 87-77 loss at Villanova on Saturday.

“I feel like even the guys who come off the bench here could start here and definitely somewhere else. To have this kind of depth is to our benefit. Over the course of a long season, it’s going to positively impact us.”

Crawford, who led the Atlantic 10 in 3-point shooting a year ago, was back to wearing his customary braided hairstyle after letting his hair loose, something he said he’ll probably not do again.

“It was a lot on Saturday,” he said of the unruly look. “That was the first time I actually played with my hair that way. I probably won’t do it again. It got in my face a little too much.”

With his hair intact, Crawford shot 8 for 12, including 3 of 6 from behind the arc, against Loyola.

David Dixon also scored in double figures with 10 points for Duquesne (4-1), which opened a stretch of four of five games at home.

The Dukes turn their attention to their annual trip across the Ohio border to face Northeastern on Saturday in Akron in the Morgan & Morgan Classic at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, Joyce’s alma mater.

For now, it seems, Joyce embraces the idea of everyone getting a shot, whether they shoot the ball or not. There are other ways to contribute, he said.

“I told the guys in the locker room tonight that I want everybody to play. Everybody’s not going to play the same, but when you hit the court, I want you to provide something with your energy, your communication and your effort,” he said.

“And I thought we did a really good job of that tonight, just playing hard and really buying in and focusing on how to win this game.”

Duquesne shot 55.2% from the floor but made only 8 of 23 3-point attempts for 34.8%. The Dukes outrebounded Loyola 39-25 with Jakub Necas tying a career high of 10.

Jimmie Williams grabbed nine boards for Duquesne, which assisted on 21 of 32 field goals with Guinyard leading the way with six.

The UT Martin transfer, coming off a 30-point performance against Villanova, became the first Dukes player to average at least 20 through the first five games of a season since Wayne Smith in 1999-2000.

Guinyard entered the night leading Duquesne in scoring with an average of 21.0 points per game.

Hugley wasted no time establishing his presence after playing through foul trouble at Villanova, where he played 24 minutes and finished with eight points and one rebound.

It followed games of 27 and 25 points in the Dukes’ previous two outings.

Hugley’s nine consecutive points against Loyola in a span of 1 minute, 40 seconds sent Duquesne to an 11-2 lead, part of a 19-4 run to start the game.

Despite the fast start, Loyola was able to slow the Dukes’ momentum.

The Greyhounds, selected sixth among 10 teams in the Patriot League’s annual preseason poll, drew within six points several times in the first half after Duquesne built leads of 16 points on three occasions, the last on Alex Williams’ driving layup at the 11:36 mark.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Emmett Adair and Tyson Commander capped an 11-4 Loyola run and brought the Greyhounds within 34-28.

Loyola again trailed by six, 41-35, on Commander’s hook shot before Duquesne scored six of the last seven points of the half to grab a 47-36 advantage at intermission.

It followed a curious pattern that Duquesne seems to have established so far.

“We’re still trying to figure it out,” Crawford said. “It’s happening where we get up early and they always come back and make it a game. That’s on us. That’s going to be our focus moving forward. Once we get the lead, we need to maintain it and stretch it out.”

Jacob Theodosiou’s 3-pointer pulled Loyola within eight to start the second half. But when Hugley scored in close with 29 seconds gone by, Duquesne pushed its advantage back to double digits and slowly pulled away.

Necas’ dunk started Duquesne on a 9-2 run that turned a 13-point advantage into a 78-57 bulge with 7:44 to go. The 21-point lead matched Duquesne’s largest of the night.

An 80-59 advantage on a Dixon jumper at the 6:33 mark put Duquesne back in front by 21.

Loyola (2-4) was led by Theodosiou’s 21 points.


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