The Jim Ferry era opened with a loss Friday night at the SEFCU Arena in Albany, NY. In what Ferry would describe as an ugly basketball game, the Dukes found their freshmen doing a lot of the scoring.
Derrick Colter led all scorers with 17 points, while fellow freshman Quevyn Winters came off the bench with 15. Winters also came down with 11 rebounds to complete the double-double. Duquesne came out with two freshmen in the starting lineup, Colter and Jeremiah Jones.
When playing on the road in Division I basketball, it is very hard to win when freshmen are leading your team. No disrespect to Colter, but the upperclassmen were too quiet Friday night. Sean Johnson put up nine points, but only managed to shoot 3-of-13 from the field. Junior guard/forward Jerry Jones was only able to manage two.
The Dukes went into halftime down by the same margin by which they lost the game. The second half featured eight lead changes. Colter put Duquesne in a postion to win when he hit a three-pointer with 2:30 left to put them up by one. But Albany came storming back, and Mike Black of the Great Danes responded with a three of his own with 2:14 to go. Albany center John Puk sealed the game with his dunk with 51 seconds remaining.
Although both teams played a sloppy game, Duquesne reduced its turnover total from their last outing. They finished the game with thirteen, six of which were committed by Colter in his NCAA debut. The Dukes outrebounded their opponents 39-35, but missed four of five free throws in the final five minutes. This proved to be a difference-maker in the game.
Impressive performances were definitely present for the Dukes in their opener, but the seniors need to step up if the team wants to compete down the stretch.
Photo Credits: Daily Gazette
