Sophomore Simplice Njoya, who gave up his starting forward spot to senior Brad Midgley, came off the bench to tally 11 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Sophomore Simplice Njoya, who gave up his starting forward spot to senior Brad Midgley, came off the bench to tally 11 points and 12 rebounds.
  
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Red & Blue Lose Reg. Season Finale to URI, 76-71

Simplice Njoya Posts a Double-Double

March 8, 2003

Box Score

Duquesne rallied from a 25-point second half deficit to pull within three with just over four minutes to go, but could not complete the comeback in a 76-71 loss to Rhode Island at the Palumbo Center. The Dukes and Rams will meet again in the opening game of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Rhode Island on Monday night.

Rhode Island, who jumped out to a 15-0 lead, maintained a 36-22 advantage at the half. The Rams increased the lead to 54-29 with 14:31 left on a layup by Marcel Momplaisir before the Dukes began their comeback with 10 consecutive points. Kevin Forney's 3-pointer with 7:48 left cut the lead to 59-50. Back-to-back dunks by Ron Dokes and Elijah Palmer brought the Dukes to within five, before Dokes connected again to make the score 61-58 with 4:26 left.

Rhode Island, whose final field goal came at the 6:49 mark, hit 15-of-18 free throws over the final 4:05 to keep the Duke at bay. Brian Woodward and Dawan Robinson led Rhode Island with 22 and 19 points respectively.

Forney, in his final home game, led four Dukes in double figures with 14. Ron Dokes (12 points), Bryant McAllister (11 points) and Simplice Njoya (11 points) also scored in double figures for DU. Njoya added a game-high 12 rebounds.

Duquesne, which missed its first eight field goal attempts, shot just 29 percent in the first half before rallying to hit 17-29 shots (58.6%) in the second 20 minutes.

NOTES:

  • Duquesne's first points of the game came at the 12:51 mark of the first half.
  • Njoya posted his third career double-double (11-12) and third career double-digit rebound game.
  • Bryant McAllister scored all 11 of his points in the second half.
  • Forney scored 10 of his 14 after intermission.
  • Rhode Island scored just one field goal in the final 14:31.

 

 

POSTGAME QUOTES

Duquesne head coach Danny Nee:

"They're a good, solid basketball team. Against a quality-coached Jimmy Baron team you have to play two halves. Rhode Island does a nice job of pounding the ball inside. They were grinding it out and it was 12, 14, 15 [the margin to start the game]. They were pitching a shutout.

We just have to go back, get some rest, and get ready for Monday."

Rhode Island head coach Jim Baron:

"It was a heck of a battle. Without our starting point guard [Howard Smith] our guys stepped it up and did a good job. We'll have another battle on our hands on Monday night."

Duquesne senior forward Brad Midgley:

"We've been there so many times [down in the second half], I knew we were going to come back. I didn't know if we could hold off their second spurt or not. We go to the Atlantic 10 Tournament now. It doesn't matter what our record is. We have to go out and try to win as many as possible."

MEDIA REPORTS

Post-Gazette | Tribune-Review | TR II | Providence Journal | PJ II | AP

NEXT

Rhode Island (17-10, 10-6) will entertain Duquesne (9-20, 4-12) on Monday, March 10 at 7:30pm at the Ryan Center in the first round of the 2003 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship. The Championship then moves to the University of Dayton Arena, beginning with quarterfinal round play on Thursday, March 13 with host Dayton (21-5, 14-2) taking on the winner of the DU-URI game at 9:00 pm.