Duquesne found itself crushing a solid Colgate team by 16 points early in the second half, but just a few minutes later, the Dukes had squandered the entire lead.
Colgate, coming off a big win at Syracuse, is the favorite to win the Patriot League. The Raiders looked like they'd be knocked out by the Dukes, only to battle all the way back to tie. And at that point, with all the momentum, Colgate appeared to be on its way to victory.
But Duquesne answered in a big way, taking the big punch from the Raiders and then punching right back. The Dukes broke away from the tie with a 16-4 run, then held on late for an 85-80 victory.
The game was played at LeBron James Arena in Akron, Ohio, home of the St. Vincent-St. Mary's High School team. Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot coached that team from 1998-2001 and won a pair of state championships with LeBron James leading the way.
Dambrot also is an Akron native and was head coach at the University of Akron from 2004-17, so this was a homecoming for him.
His team weathered the storm after Colgate had rallied from a 51-35 deficit to pull even at 55 with 11:59 remaining. The Dukes responded and wound up getting a nice early season victory.
The Dukes (3-1) stretched the lead back out to 77-61 with 5:46 to go, so it appeared once again they would cruise to victory.
But Colgate stormed back a second time and pulled within 82-80 with 30 seconds left. Dae Dae Grant made two free throws, and the Duquesne defense held late to preserve the win.
π£ Quick thoughts from Akron#GoDukes pic.twitter.com/KkWyEL9VzX
β Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) November 19, 2022
Grant led Duquesne with 24 points. Tre Williams added 15, Tevin Brewer 14 for the Dukes, while Austin Rotroff had 10 off the bench.
Duquesne's next game is Monday at home against North Florida. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
THE ESSENTIALS
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