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Dukes Upset Xavier, 71-58 Elijah Palmer Leads Duquesne With 19 Points & Four Steals

Senior Ron Dokes

Jan. 14, 2004

Pittsburgh, Pa. - Duquesne used a 13-0 run early in the second half to turn a 41-39 lead into a 54-39 advantage and held on to defeat Xavier 71-58 at the Palumbo Center.

The Dukes, who hit their first nine shots of the game, jumped out to a 25-12 lead with Elijah Palmer - who led the Dukes with 19 points - scoring 10 in the first five minutes of the game. Xavier rallied to cut the lead to one before Bryant McAllister closed the half with a layup to make the score 32-29.

Duquesne scored the first four points of the second half before Xavier cut the lead to two on a Lionel Chalmers 3-pointer with 14:28 left. Jon Pawlak began DU's game-deciding run with a pair of free throws followed by a Palmer layup. Jack Higgins and McAllister then combined for the next nine points to make the score 54-39 with 9:11 left.

Xavier's Romain Sato, who finished with a game-high 21 points, hit a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 Xavier run that made the score 54-46. The Musketeers cut the lead to six on a Justin Doellman 3-pointer with 7:17 to go before the Dukes answered with a dunk from Palmer and a pair of Ron Dokes free throws to up the lead to 10.

Xavier once again cut the lead to five with just over five minutes left before Pawlak answered with a big 3-pointer from the top of the key. Dokes scored on a layup to up the lead to 10 with 3:36 left. Xavier would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way. McAllister, who scored 11 in the second half, and Dokes finished with 13 points each for Duquesne. Lionel Chalmers was the only other Musketeer in double figures with 18.

Duquesne, which shot 56.0 percent in the first half, finished the game 53.1 percent from the field. Xavier went 9-of-29 from the 3-point arc in shooting 38.3 percent for the game. The Dukes outrebounded the Musketeers 35-27.

NOTES:

Duquesne's first miss came at the 10:48 mark of the first half
Palmer scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half ... he also finished the game with a career-high 4 steals
The Dukes hit 4-of-5 3-pointers in the second half
Duquesne's bench outscored the Xavier bench 15-2 ... DU also enjoyed a 32-14 edge in frontcourt scoring
Duquesne led from the 18:46 mark of the first half on

Quotes:

Duquesne head coach Danny Nee:

"I thought our bench was going to be a key to the game. I felt they were the difference in the game, the way they played from start to finish. I think us being ready to play in the first five minutes was the difference. That, and not melting at the end. Getting that start was a necessity."

Duquesne senior forward Elijah Palmer:

"We needed that. We didn't want to start 0-3 in conference. We finished off the game today and that is something we hadn't been able to do. I wanted to come out aggressive in the first half. I let the game come to me."

Duquesne senior center Ron Dokes:

"It feels good to finish off a game. We've had a storm cloud over our heads. We stuck to our game plan and rolled it on out."

Xavier head coach Thad Matta:

"They're the best 6-8 team in the country ... and our guys knew that going in."