Duquesne dumps No. 24 Dayton in A-10 quarterfinals

Field Level Media|published: Thu 14th March, 22:53 2024

Mar 8, 2024; Dayton, Ohio, USA; Dayton Flyers head coach Anthony Grant calls a play during the first half of the game against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams at University of Dayton Arena. credits: Matt Lunsford-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Clark III scored a team-high 16 points to help lead Duquesne to a 65-57 win over No. 24 Dayton in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic-10 tournament Thursday in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Dae Dae Grant added 11 points for the sixth-seeded Dukes (22-11), who advance to play St. Bonaventure in the semifinals Saturday. Duquesne has now won six straight games.

DaRon Holmes II led third-seeded Dayton (24-7) with 24 points and 13 rebounds, followed by Nate Santos' 10 points. The Flyers, presumably still an at-large NCAA Tournament recipient, will await their seeding Sunday.

After Duquesne's two-point halftime advantage, Fousseyni Drame's triple extended the Dukes' lead to five at the 17:12 mark, before back-to-back 3-pointers from Santos and Holmes gave Dayton its first lead of the game with 15:51 left.

With 10:42 remaining, Kareem Rozier's 3-pointer gave Duquesne its first points since Drame's 3-pointer, and it tied the game at 42.

Holmes' free throws put Dayton ahead by four with 7:15 left, but it was all Duquesne from there. The Dukes answered with a 10-0 run, capped by Grant's triple that gave Duquesne a 58-52 lead with 3:53 remaining.

Holmes' natural three-point play then stopped the bleeding, but Jake DiMichele's layup extended the Dukes' lead to five at the 3:07 mark.

Holmes responded with a mid-range jumper for the Flyers' last points, with 2:08 left. Clark then iced the game with a 3-pointer and two free throws.

In the first half, Duquesne got off to a 14-4 lead on Drame's layup at the 11:41 mark.

After a pair of free throws by Enoch Cheeks, Isaac Jack's put-back bucket cut Dayton's deficit to three points with 6:54 left.

Leading by five with 2:43 remaining, Jakub Necas knocked down a triple that extended the Dukes' advantage to 28-20.

A pair of free throws by Holmes followed by Javon Bennett's 3-pointer cut the Dukes' halftime lead to 30-28.

Clark led Duquesne with seven first-half points, while Santos also paced the Flyers with seven.

—Field Level Media