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 follow the script.

Duquesne’s run of successes in coach Dru Joyce III’s hometown ended Saturday with a thud.

Freshman Xavier Abreu poured in 32 points, and Northeastern outlasted Duquesne, 93-86, in the Morgan & Morgan Classic at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s LeBron James Arena, ending the Dukes’ six-game unbeaten streak at neutral sites in Akron.

“There should be no excuses,” Joyce said. “We didn’t play hard on every possession. We didn’t dig, didn’t have enough focus.”

Duquesne had won five times at St. Vincent-St. Mary and once at Ellet High School since starting a tradition of playing once a year in Akron, where former Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot coached Joyce at St. Vincent-St. Mary and the University of Akron.

Joyce’s father, Dru Joyce II, succeeded Dambrot at St. Vincent-St. Mary and is in his 25th season at the head of the team.

On Saturday, Joyce III’s parents, Dru II and Carolyn Joyce, were among the crowd of 1,118. They sat several rows behind Duquesne’s bench in support of their son, who in his second season as coach at Duquesne and was patrolling the sideline his father usually occupies while coaching his high school team.

“We’re going to go into all types of atmospheres,” Joyce III said. “Look, the (Atlantic 10 Tournament) is coming to Pittsburgh (to PPG Paints Arena in March). Family, friends, cousins, longtime relatives, everybody’s going to be there. What can the excuse be then? There’s no excuse. Whoever shows up to the game, it doesn’t matter. You’ve just got to go play.

“We didn’t come with our best today, and you see what happens: A team comes in to play hard, strategically followed through with their game plan and they handed us a loss.”

Playing its third game without leading scorer and former Lincoln Park star LA Pratt, Northeastern controlled the game from the start.

Abreau, who shot 11 for 17 and was 9 for 10 at the free-throw line, was a capable replacement for Pratt, a senior guard who was averaging 17.0 points per game when he was injured during Northeastern’s 77-60 victory over Harvard on Nov. 11.

The 6-foot-5 Pratt originally committed to Duquesne in 2021 but ultimately signed with Elon, where he played two seasons before transferring to Northeastern before the 2024-25 season.

He was a 1,000-point scorer at Lincoln Park, helping the Leopards to two appearances each in WPIAL championship and PIAA semifinal games.

“We knew (Abreu would) play,” Joyce said. “With (Pratt) out, someone else has to step up. They were kind of bringing him along, and today they let the (training) wheels off. He saw gaps in our defense and saw areas where he could get down hill on the attack. We didn’t meet the challenge. I can think of only one time where we stood in his way. When we did and we were ready, we got a stop. We’ve got him to turn the ball over. Other than that, I think he was in front of the basket, and we were just trailing the play.

Elezovic Haris added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and William Kermoury contributed 13 points for Northeastern (3-3), which led for all but 4 minutes, 2 seconds.

The Huskies made 24 of 30 free throws, outrebounded the Dukes 36-27 and forced 19 turnovers while surviving 21 of their own.

“Defensively, it was like we were incapable,” Joyce said.

Tarence Guinyard led five Duquesne players in double figures with 19 points. The Dukes (4-2) also got 18 from John Hughley IV, 17 from Jimmie Williams, 14 from Jakub Necas and 11 from Cam Crawford.

Both teams shot sizzling percentages — Northeastern finishing at 55.4 and Duquesne at 54.2 — and it showed with a tightly contested game that saw Northeastern answer nearly every Duquesne challenge.

The Dukes were within one point in the final minute on an uncontested layup by Necas, but Northeastern closed the game on a 5-0 run, ignited by Kermoury’s off-balance 3-point shot with 32 seconds remaining, giving the Huskies a two-possession, 90-86 lead.

When Hugley missed two free throws with 28 seconds to go — the Dukes were 17 of 25 (68.0%) from the stripe — Duquesne was forced to foul.

It didn’t matter. The Dukes went scoreless the rest of the way.

“We had too many turnovers. We didn’t own the rebounds and win the boards. It was just not a good attack from our side,” Joyce said.

Northeastern never led by more than eight points, seven in the second half, including the final score.

“Offense wasn’t a problem, outside of us turning the ball over,” Joyce said. “But when you give up 93 points, there’s something going on with your defense that day. If you take better care of the ball … we might have been in the 90s and 100s if we didn’t cough it up 21 times. Defense was the bigger issue.

“We’ve got to recover from our mistakes. You turn the ball over, you’ve got to get down and get a stop, find a way to get back into the play, make sure you capitalize and get the rebound. We didn’t do any of that.”

Duquesne’s decision to play at St. Vincent-St. Mary, where Joyce played alongside LeBron James, comes with rewards and risks. The allure of playing at their alma mater is intriguing and the trip also offers a chance to visit attractions in Joyce’s hometown.

As in years past, the Dukes on Friday visited the I Promise School, LeBron James Museum and House Three Thirty, all creations of the LeBron James Family Foundation.

Situated just blocks apart, all three facilities are a short distance from LeBron James Arena.

“They’re able to see all the details in history that went from where (James) started as a young man in his apartment all the way through this Lakers stage of his career,” Joyce said earlier in the week.

House Three Thirty serves as a social center for the community, he said. It houses, among other things, restaurants and a coffee shop, theatre and bank.

With another Akron excursion complete, Duquesne returns to Pittsburgh for the start of a three-game homestand at 6 p.m. Wednesday against Division II Central State (Ohio) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. William & Mary (Dec. 2) and Stony Brook (Dec. 6) follow before the Dukes head west for a two-game swing covering Boise State (Dec. 10) and Nevada (Dec. 13).

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