It was truly a tale of two halves. UMASS led by as many as 17 late in the first half, but saw their lead cut to three on three separate occasions in the 2nd. Against a strong UMASS team, it wasn’t enough to pull out a victory. The Dukes just dug themselves into a hole too early.
Just like in the Saint Joseph’s game, Duquesne came out with a head of steam in the 2nd half. Sean Johnson led this charge, scoring 14 points in the first 4:10 of the 2nd half. 4 of these points came off of a 4-point play that brought Duquesne to within five of their opponents. The final time Duquesne got within three was on a Derrick Colter layup that made it 65-62 with 7:12 left. Duquesne faltered big-time after this though. They only converted one field goal in the final seven minutes of the game—a Jeremiah Jones jumper with just over five minutes remaining.
“We cut it to three and just kind of ran out of steam,” Coach Ferry told the press after the game. Duquesne failed to sustain anything for any respectable period of time. Unless you count Johnson’s 29 points, a career high for the senior. His performance came on 11 of 18 shooting. Derrick Colter extended his streak of double digit scoring games to nine with his 14 point performance on 5 of 12 from the field. Andre Marhold grabbed nine rebounds in 22 minutes. Unfortunately, the Dukes were outrebounded 39-35 and outscored 18-9 in second-chance points.
Photo Credit: Duquesne Athletics
