Pittsburgh – Duquesne (9-9, 2-4) won in the most dramatic fashion, 83-81, Saturday night at the A.J. Palumbo Center on a last second 3-point heave by Derrick Colter. The sophomore point guard’s runner with a hand in the face came after Colter missed two free throws with four seconds left in the game that would have put the Dukes up by one.
“I should have made the free throws first, that just made me mad. I could have hit the two free throws to win the game,” Colter said afterwards. After his big shot, however, he is certainly breathing much easier.
“It could have ended even tougher for the kid,” said Ferry. “You can learn more from a loss than you can from a win, but you can learn a lot from a game like this,” he also added. Duquesne’s 57.9 percent from 3-point range was the best shooting performance in Ferry’s two-year career as the Dukes’ head coach.
Micah Mason’s four first half 3-pointers were enough to keep the Dukes relevant early on, and it ended up making all the difference in the end. Duquesne shot well in the opening stages of the game, especially from long range, where they were 6 of 12 in the first half. Ferry’s team was plagued by nine turnovers that surrendered too many free points to the visiting Bonnies (12-8, 2-4) in the first half, but made a complete turnaround in the second, where they turned the ball over just twice.
Soko wasn’t getting many favorable looks in the opening minutes, but came alive later on in the half as the game opened up. 8 of his 27 points came in the first half.
Mason set a strong tone on the Dukes’ second possession, hitting a contested three from the corner. He would follow with a string of two more on back-to-back possessions midway through the half.
Duquesne had trouble stopping point guard and team captain for the Bonnies Charlon Kloof, who put up 23 points on 7 of 11 from the floor. Forward Marquise Simmons was also a presence underneath – Simmons, who fouled out in the second half, had 13 points.
The low point in the half came after Duquesne forward L.G. Gill got a technical for taunting after a big-time block down low, much to the chagrin of Ferry.
On Duquesne’s last two possessions, when they could have cut down on the Bonnies’ slim lead, Gill and Tra’Vaughn White settled for forced 3-pointers, and the Dukes trailed at halftime 38-44.
Mason and Jones converted key 3-pointers in the early stages of the second half, and Duquesne pulled to within one in the first four minutes of the period. Colter and Gill then followed with back-to-back threes, putting the Dukes up by five and forcing St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt to take a timeout.
Duquesne’s largest lead was six, but the rest of the half was back and forth, with St. Bonaventure retaking command on a Matthew Wright 3-pointer with 9:47 to play.
The last minute of the game featured three lead changes. Wright, who finished the game with 22 points on 6 of 16 shooting, hit his biggest three of the game with :46 left, following a huge and one play by Soko. But Duquesne never gave up, even when they were down by one with under four seconds to go.
“We talk about mental toughness all the time. For them to come out and respond the way they did tonight, I’m proud of them,” Ferry said.
The game was hard-fought throughout – three different players from St. Bonaventure fouled out, while Soko also picked up his fifth in the final 15 seconds.
“Coach Ferry said we’re gonna make it and we just believed, we were in this position Wednesday night,” Soko said. “If you continue to do the right things, the luck will eventually tip your way.”
Photo Credit: Duquesne Athletics
