Feb. 21, 2010

By Mike Prisuta

This one didn't get away.

This was Duquesne's day, from the well-deserved Senior Day pregame ceremony for Jason Duty, to the "Red Out" that helped create a "tremendous environment," according to head coach Ron Everhart, to the refuse-to-lose tenacity exhibited by Everhart's players throughout, an attitude that allowed Duquesne to take the game at the end and then hang on at the very end.

The only time gusto was lacking on Sunday afternoon was when the students decided to rush the court in celebration of the outcome.

They didn't so much "rush" the court as they stumbled out upon it.

Can you blame them for being out of practice?

They'll have more opportunities to perfect the mass move if the Dukes keep battling they way they did against Dayton while extending their season-salvaging winning streak to three.

It ended 73-71 when a Dayton three misfired in the closing seconds and an official review determined time had expired during the mad scramble for the rebound.

But the basket that achieved the lead the Dukes would never relinquish _ a drive into the lane and to the rim by Damian Saunders _ was executed via an adjustment on the fly, as opposed to what had been illustrated on the grease board during a timeout with 34.2 seconds remaining.

There was a difference of opinion as to what exactly that had been, but this time even that didn't matter.

Did I mention this was Duquesne's day?

"Coach drew up the last-minute play for Duty," Saunders explained. "He was supposed to come off a double-screen and hit a three. Senior Day love, you know? We all love Duty. He's a great shooter. We all have faith in him."

They do at that, but not quite that much in this particular instance.

"The play was actually for Saunders," Everhart said. "Damian was supposed to catch it and reverse it to Billy (Clark), set the screen, dive to the rim and dunk it. Billy was going to throw a bullet pass right through the lane (to Saunders) with nobody there. I was absolutely certain that would have worked."

What ultimately happened was Duty inbounded the ball to Saunders and Saunders dribbled to the wing and then back into the center of the floor while everyone else got out of the way.

"We told him, `If you see (Kurt) Huelsman on, you just take it,'" Everhart said.

This much Saunders agreed upon.

"Once (Duty) gave it to me I heard Coach yelling `take him,' because I had been doing it all night," Saunders said. "Eventually I took him and got the bucket.

"I played Superman for the day."

Saunders actually does that every day.

Sunday (20 points, five rebounds, three steals) was no different.

But on this day he and his teammates weren't to be denied.

Saunders had felt that way all day, even during a timeout with 3:21 remaining and Duquesne clinging to a three-point lead (69-66) that was about to vanish.

Saunders was out of the game with four fouls at the time, but as the dance team and cheerleaders threw plastic basketballs into the stands and Everhart screamed instructions to his players, Saunders danced along to "Can't Touch This" as it blared from the Palumbo Center sound system, all the while keeping his head in the huddle.

"I always like to have fun when I'm playing whether we're down or we're up," he said. "I felt like we were going to win this game, regardless."

That's a feeling that's caught on again at Duquesne.