Duquesne rallies in 2nd half, beats Richmond to advance in Atlantic 10 Tournament

In a few words, senior Michael Hughes told the story of Duquesne’s season and the 67-62 victory against Richmond in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

First, consider the Dukes trailed by seven at halftime, missed their first eight shots of the second half and were down eight with 7½ minutes to play. This, after a midseason roster upheaval and repeated gut punches from the covid-19 pandemic that sickened almost everyone.

“We faced more adversity than what people really think, on the court and off the court,” Hughes said. “Tough group of guys that got hit in the mouth. Are we’re going take a hit, going to like it or give you a couple more on the way out? It’s more about taking those lumps on the chin and being able to keep pushing through.”

With their first A-10 Tournament victory since 2015, the ninth-seeded Dukes (9-8) earned the right to play No. 1 seed St. Bonaventure at 11 a.m. Friday in the quarterfinals, also at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va.

For the most of the game Thursday, Duquesne didn’t look like a team that deserved to advance. The Dukes struggled offensively from every angle on the court. They missed shots from the foul line (10 of 20) and 3-point arc (going 5 of 15) and several layups.

“The uglier the better for us,” coach Keith Dambrot said. “The ugly ducklings.”

But everything changed midway through the second half when the Dukes turned up the defensive intensity, and eighth-seeded Richmond (13-8) stopped making shots.

The Spiders didn’t sink a basket for a 9-minute, 26-second stretch — they finally got a meaningless one with two seconds left — while Duquesne hit its final seven shots.

The Dukes trailed 37-30 at intermission, but their defense never let them fall behind by more than 11.

“I told them at one of the timeouts,” Dambrot said, “ ‘Hey, don’t let your offense affect your defense. As poorly as we’ve played, we still have a really good chance to win it if we just get our head out of the clouds.’ ”

A series of game-changing plays ensued, starting with senior guard Tavian Dunn-Martin’s 3-pointer that he let go a few steps from where Dambrot was standing. Suddenly, Richmond’s lead was 52-51.

After Hughes’ three-point play put the Dukes ahead 54-53, freshman Chad Baker made two steals and two layups. The second involved a bit of luck as the ball hit an official as it was going out of bounds, allowing Baker to grab it.

But Baker wasn’t done. With the score tied at 60-60 with 70 seconds left, the freshman from the Dominican Republic stopped in transition and hit a jumper, giving him a team-high 16 points and Duquesne a lead it never relinquished.

“For a young guy, he has no fear,” Dambrot said. “You don’t see many freshmen shoot pull-up jumpers with the game tied in the last couple minutes. I love that about him. He also played some good defense when it mattered on the ball, which is one of his weak areas.”

Dambrot was especially pleased with Dunn-Martin, who scored 11 points — seven when they really mattered — and committed only two turnovers in 36 minutes.

“He’s been in a lot of big games in his career,” Dambrot said. “I saw him play in three state championships (in high school). He made a big shot for us at Akron in the NIT to beat Houston.

“He shouldn’t be able to do what he does at his size (5-foot-8), but he does. When he plays well, we have a chance to beat most people.”

Duquesne’s main strength comes from Hughes and senior forward Marcus Weathers, who each had 10 rebounds. Weathers scored 12 points and Hughes 11.

Hughes missed eight of his first nine shots, but was 4 for 4 after that. Dambrot never lost trust in his 6-8 center.

“If I was going to go down,” he said, “I was going to go down with somebody who’s been a good player for us.”

The Spiders played without their leading scorer, Blake Francis, and with 6-foot-10 center Grant Golden trying to battle Hughes and Weathers with a broken middle finger.

“I feel for Chris Mooney and Richmond,” Dambrot said. “Sometimes in this sport, it’s brutal because you can’t play with all the guys that you have.”

Added Richmond’s Jacob Gilyard: “I think in that nine minutes when we didn’t score, (Francis) would have got us a bucket.”

Dambrot was happy to win but too busy thinking about St. Bonaventure to celebrate.

“It’s nice,” he said, “but, ultimately, Duquesne hasn’t been in the NCAA Tournament in 500 years (since 1977, actually). So until Duquesne goes to the NCAA Tournament, I’m not going to be really happy.

“How can you be? I’m not in this to finish sixth or ninth or eighth. My job is to win championships.”

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