Richmond ends Duquesne's hopes for double bye in A-10 Tournament
If he could stand the pain, Keith Dambrot might want to make a list of all that led to Duquesne’s 73-62 loss to Richmond on Friday night.
• The Dukes missed 15 of 25 free throws after entering the game with a 71.7 percent accuracy rate, fifth in the Atlantic 10. “I think I could have made a couple of them, underhanded or something,” the 61-year-old coach muttered. “I guess it’s just mental toughness.”
• Duquesne’s 3-point shooting was also poor (10 for 30). Overall, the Dukes shot 35 percent (21 for 60). “It’s the same stuff that has gotten us all year,” Dambrot said. “I believe when you don’t make shots, it’s because your head’s not clear.”
• Richmond had a 50-39 rebounding advantage.
• The Dukes committed 13 turnovers
• Then, there was Richmond’s Jacob Gilyard, who leads the Atlantic 10 with an average of 3.1 steals per game. He doubled that number with six of his team’s nine, repeatedly coming up behind his victims and snatching the basketball. “If you go by him, what do you think is going to happen?” Dambrot said.
All those things bothered Dambrot, mainly because he believes his team is better than it played Friday night against the Spiders (24-7, 14-4), who finished second in the conference.
“I have extremely high expectations,” he said. “(Richmond is) a pretty good team, but we should have won. Simple as that. I’m never going to accept that. They have some pretty good traits, but we certainly have the people to match up with them.
“If I sound frustrated, I’m a little frustrated. But that’s what makes me good. I’m no accepting that. That was a game we should have won.
“People say, ‘Oh well, it’s the end of year, (you’re) tired.’ C’mon man. We had a lot to play for.
“But that’s bit us all year. We can’t get out of our own way. Every time we get close, we do the same thing. At some point, when you beat your head against the wall 14 times, you figure out not to beat your head against the wall.
“We’re a pretty good team. We’ve come a long way. But a championship quality team wins that game tonight.”
The result of the last regular-season game, played before a crowd of 3,211 at PPG Paints Arena, is the Dukes (21-9, 11-7) will carry a fifth or sixth seed into the Atlantic 10 Tournament next week. The loss to Richmond robbed Duquesne of its double-bye opportunity; instead the Dukes will play Thursday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Duquesne will be a fifth seed if Rhode Island loses to UMass on Saturday; sixth if Rhode Island wins.
The game was close for most of the first half after Duquesne jumped out to an 11-4 lead. There were nine lead changes before halftime, but when the Dukes started missing 3-point shots, Richmond went on a 10-1 run to lead, 37-29, at intermission.
Duquesne rallied at times in the second half, especially when Tavian Dunn-Martin scored 15 of his team-high 17 points. But guards Sincere Carry and Lamar Norman each shot 2 for 10.
“I’m a guy that lets them rip it,” Dambrot said. “I’m telling Sin, `Keep shooting it.’ I’m telling Lamar, `Keep shooting it.’ I thought every one of them was open.”
After the game, Dambrot offered a glimpse into Duquesne’s post-game locker room, telling reporters, “They didn’t like what I had to say in there, but I don’t really care. I love ‘em, but I’m going to tell them the truth.
“Just told them, `When are you going to learn? You have to play with a clear head. Don’t let the last play bother you. Play better together.’ ”
In spite of his frustrations, Dambrot believes his team can recover in time for the tournament.
“Why not? They’ve recovered all year,” he said. Indeed, Duquesne rallied from a three-game losing streak in late January to win six of its next nine. Until Friday night.
Perhaps the loss will motivate the players to reach the potential Dambrot sees in them.
“My mother was a psychologist,” he said. “I know it’s going to make me push. Anymore, you don’t know how the millennials think.”
Senior Baylee Steele might be thinking like his coach, however. After scoring 12 points, he said the loss “makes us hungrier, for sure. We still have a lot of season left.
“We should have got that win. It’s time now. Everyone’s 0-0.”
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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