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Dukes Upset Xavier For Second Time, 74-68 Bryant McAllister Paces 4 Double-Digit Scorers With 21 Points
Bryant McAllister has hit in double-digits in 17 of DU's last 21 games.
 
Bryant McAllister has hit in double-digits in 17 of DU's last 21 games.
  

Feb. 28, 2004

Box Score

Cincinnati, Ohio - Duquesne (11-15, 6-9) limited Xavier (17-10, 8-6) to two field goals over the last 10:51 and converted nine of 10 free throw attempts down the stretch to pull away for a 74-68 win at the Cintas Center. The victory marked DU's first season sweep of the Musketeers since Xavier joined the Atlantic 10 in 1995-96, and gave the Dukes their most Atlantic 10 wins since 1993-94.

Bryant McAllister, who scored 14 in the second half, led Duquesne with a career high-tying 21 points. Jack Higgins and Ron Dokes came off the bench to add 12 points each and Jimmy Tricco hit three 3-pointers to finish with 11 for DU.

Lionel Chalmers went 5-of-10 from the 3-point arc to lead Xavier with 22.

Neither team led by more than four in a game that featured seven ties and 31 lead changes, until DU closed the game with its 9-3 run. With the score tied at 65-65 and 1:03 left, Elijah Palmer hit a pair of free throws to give the Dukes a lead they would not relinquish. Duquesne forced a missed shot and a pair of turnovers on Xavier's next three possessions as McAllister hit four free throws and Martin Osimani made two more with 20 seconds left to make the score 73-65. Xavier's Dedrick Finn hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left before Osimani added another free throw for the final margin.

Duquesne, which also defeated Xavier earlier this year by a 71-58 margin at Pittsburgh, received a huge boost from its bench which outscored the Xavier bench 30-7. In addition to the 12 each from Higgins and Dokes, Ryan Tricco came off the bench to hit a couple of 3-pointers in scoring six points. Ryan Tricco also played a major role limiting Xavier's Romain Sato - who finished the game with 21 points - to two in the second half.

 

 

DU, which was outrebounded 33-23, more than made up for the deficit by forcing Xavier into a season-high 21 turnovers. The Dukes, who converted 9-of-18 3-point attempts, outshot the Musketeers 49.0 percent to 44.9 percent from the field. Duquesne turned it over just 14 times. The Dukes registered 10 steals led by McAllister's season high-tying four.

Jimmy Tricco, who led the Dukes with four assists, added three steals. A Sato tip at the 1:29 mark and Finn's 3-pointer with 12 seconds left were Xavier's lone field goals over the last 10:51.

The Dukes complete their regular season next Saturday, March 6th at 2:00 p.m. against Dayton at the Palumbo Center. This is also senior day for four upperclassmen, Dokes, Andrew Gans, Elijah Palmer and Tricco.

Also, the remainder of Duquesne's Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2004 will be inducted at halftime. (Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Joe Beimel was installed on Feb. 7, 2004, prior to his departure for spring training.)

NOTES

  • Duquesne snapped a seven-game Xavier win streak in posting its first win at Cincinnati since Jan. 25, 1997 (a span of five games)
  • The Dukes were outscored by an average of 23.6 ppg. in the five previous losses in the Queen City
  • DU became just the fifth visiting team to win in the four-year history of XU's Cintas Center where Xavier is now 52-6
  • Xavier entered the game as one of two schools in the nation without a February loss over the last two seasons (Memphis, which lost to Louisville today, was the other)
  • The Dukes were swept five times and split twice in the seven season series' prior to this one
  • The win upped DU's Atlantic 10 record to 6-9 ... the six league wins are the most by a Duquesne team since the 1993-94 NIT team went 8-8
  • DU also finished with a 3-5 Atlantic 10 road record ... the three road league wins are the most since the 1994-95 Dukes also went 3-5
  • McAllister's 21 points tied his career high set earlier this season at Akron
  • Ron Dokes hit his first five shots in posting his first double digit scoring game (12 points) since an 18 point outing at St. Bonaventure (a span of six games)
  • Duquesne is now 11-3 when scoring 70 or more points and 7-1 when sophomore guard Jack Higgins scores 10 or more (Higgins finished with 12).

QUOTES

Duquesne head coach Danny Nee

"A week ago we were coming off our fifth loss in a row and people were starting to bury us. I'm really proud of our players and coaches. Everybody just battled. We thought we'd catch Xavier's best shot because we had beaten them in Pittsburgh. Sometimes you just play well against a certain team. Hitting free throws down the stretch was a big key for us.

"Earlier in the year when we were playing a lot of people off the bench, some people were asking `why?.' The way the bench played today kind of answers that question."
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