Duquesne hopes for NIT, Richmond has hope

 

(12) St. Joseph’s 93, (4) Duquesne 90 (OT)

Quarterfinal Friday in the Atlantic 10 was a big day for the conference's bubble teams, with both Duquesne and Richmond needing to keep winning in order to remain in the conversation. Unfortunately for the Dukes they were a part of the afternoon session, which turned out to be the "upset" half of the day in Atlantic City. Carl Jones scored 28 points and handed out seven assists, and Langston Galloway made up for an off night from the field with six assists to just one turnover as the Hawks beat Duquesne in overtime 93-90 to move on to the semifinals. Their opponent will be Dayton, who knocked off regular season champion Xavier in the first game of the day.

Bill Clark and Damian Saunders scored 21 points apiece to lead the Dukes, but they were outscored 46-38 in the paint and could not get that final stop they needed down the stretch. The two teams could not shake each other for much of the first half with Duquesne grabbing their largest lead of the game at 20-12 with 12:03 to go, only to have the Hawks Take the lead with a 15-2 run over the next three minutes. The Dukes weren't able to take the lead before halftime but they did cut the deficit to one (40-39).

Saint Joseph's was able to retain control of the game early in the second half, eventually pushing their lead out to 11 with 8:46 to go following a Galloway three-pointer. But that's where the turnovers began to mount for the young Hawks, who finished with 17 on the afternoon. Duquesne erased the deficit in about four minutes, taking the lead on a B.J. Monteiro layup with 4:31 to go. From there neither team would lead by more than two points, with Charoy Bentley finding Ronald Roberts with an outstanding pass with a second remaining to tie the score at 79.

Saint Joseph's would lead by as many as six in overtime before the Dukes cut the lead to one with nine seconds to go, with a pair of Carl Jones free throws preceding a T.J. McConnell missed three just before the buzzer. Temple may have thought they rendered the Hawk dead a couple weeks ago, but this young team showed that the motto of "the Hawk will never die" still rings true.