Duquesne continued its slow climb through the Atlantic 10 standings Wednesday night with a 75-52 victory against George Mason at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
The victory was the 500th in coach Keith Dambrot’s 25-year career (the past six at Duquesne), but it also was important for the Dukes in their season of reconstruction. Duquesne (16-8, 6-5) moved within 2 1/2 games of first place in the A-10 after winning a total of only six games last season.
The Dukes have won three of their past four but are only 5-4 since the calendar turned to 2023.
Dae Dae Grant scored 20 points and was the team’s leading scorer for the fifth game in a row — he shared the honor with Jimmy Clark III against Loyola Chicago — and Tevin Brewer added 17.
The game marked only the second time in the past 11 that Grant reached 20 points. He said the slump didn’t bother him because he was doing everything necessary to end it.
“I’m continuing to trust my teammates. They trust in me. They tell me to shoot,” he said. “And, then, I just trust my work ethic at the end of the day.
“I live in the gym. I trust if I’m in there grinding before and after hours more than other people, the results will show sooner or later. The storm can’t last forever.”
George Mason (13-12, 5-7) was guilty of 21 turnovers and accumulated the lowest point total for a Duquesne opponent this season. The Dukes recorded 10 steals and blocked seven shots.
The Dukes took a 31-23 lead at halftime, largely on the strength of its defense. Grant scored on a driving layup at the buzzer to give him 13 points for the first half.
Still, Duquesne shot only 40% (12 of 30) in the first 20 minutes, and it had trouble padding its lead after never trailing in the final 15 ½ minutes of the half.
But the Dukes were not alone. Neither team found a smooth offensive rhythm early. Duquesne led 14-13 at 11:51 and held George Mason to only five points in the next 8 ½ minutes.
The Patriots were gracious guests, committing 10 turnovers and missing six of eight attempts from beyond the 3-point arc before the break.
Dambrot said the team has improved its defense gradually throughout the season.
“We made a few subtle changes,” he said. “We moved Tre Williams (6-foot-7 junior forward) back to guarding the bigger, stronger guys and played (Joe) Reese (6-foot-6 senior) a little bit more on the less strong guys.
“We’ve been hammering them home just on being better defensively. Mostly our guys’ willingness to play it. We’re still not where we want to be.”
But he likes the progress the team has made recently.
“I think we can go pretty good.”
