Duquesne learns lesson beyond basketball in victory against Fordham

Word reached the Duquesne campus late Tuesday afternoon that freshman basketball player Maceo Austin’s older sister had died. Shock and grief spread throughout the team as the next day’s game against Fordham almost didn’t matter anymore.

Coach Keith Dambrot was prepared to play without Austin, who had started all 16 games while averaging nine points.

“I would have backed him no matter what he did,” Dambrot said. “Maceo Austin is a special human being.”

Austin decided to play, sitting down with Dambrot and Duquesne’s director of operations Steve McNees to talk through the grim situation.

“He’s one of the best guys I’ve had in a long time, just as a person,” Dambrot said. “He’s well-respected. He’s thoughtful. He cares. He’s consistent emotionally.

“It was solely his decision (to play). It didn’t surprise me that he played, but I wouldn’t have cared either way.”

Austin’s teammates responded by wearing black socks and black headbands as a show of support in their 58-56 overtime victory against Fordham.

“We’re a family. We’re brothers,” junior Marcus Weathers said. “We’re going to continue to support him throughout the whole process of everything that’s going on. That’s what we do.”

The Dukes (15-2, 5-0) didn’t play exceptionally well in front of a crowd of 2,356 at PPG Paints Arena. But they did slip into first place in the Atlantic 10, a half-game ahead of No. 13 Dayton (15-2, 4-0). They shot only 37.3 percent from the field and lost a seven-point lead after leading, 51-44, with 2 minutes, 19 seconds left in the second half.

“It just drains you a little bit,” Dambrot said. “I felt like they wanted to win so badly for (Austin) that at times we just didn’t play very good.

“It was a tough couple days. When one of your best kids goes through what he went through, it’s hard on everybody because a lot of our guys have had similar issues.”

Dambrot was pleased that his players found a way to win. The telling shot in overtime was a 3-pointer by Tavian Dunn-Martin, his only successful long-range bomb of the night. That gave the Dukes a lead they never surrendered.

Point guard Sincere Carry, who is averaging nearly 12 points, missed six of seven shots, scored only four points and committed four of Duquesne’s 14 turnovers. But he still passed out six of Duquesne’s 17 assists.

“The good thing is our best players didn’t play great tonight,” Dambrot said. “We still won, and we got a good performance from Lamar Norman.”

Norman Jr. tied a career high with 20 points, hitting 6 of 10 3-pointers.

Fordham missed 38 of 59 shots, but the Rams were successful in keeping the ball out of the paint and away from Weathers and Michael Hughes. They were averaging 14.3 and 10.6 points, but they ended up with eight and seven, respectively.

Dambrot said he didn’t believe his players relaxed against Fordham (6-10, 0-4), a struggling team that has lost seven of its past eight.

“I didn’t get that feel. I had more of a feel we were running in mud,” he said. “When we can’t dominate the inside, then the game becomes even.”

Austin ended up playing nearly 35½ minutes, scoring six points, with three assists, a steal and a block. Meanwhile, Dambrot’s team learned that basketball isn’t always the top priority.

“The overall lesson is more important than the game, by far,” Dambrot said. “Had we lost the game, I would have been upset, but I wouldn’t have been as upset as I am for what he’s going through.”