Pittsburgh—The eight-day break between games due to fall term finals for the New Orleans Privateers is over. On the ninth day, the independent Privateers got a lesson on what Atlantic-10 basketball is like, thanks to the Duquesne Dukes.
Duquesne set the pace and the tone of the game early on. The Dukes scored baskets in transition, drew fouls, and were fearless going after loose balls. This led to dominance in every category of the game.
Andre Marhold had one of his best performances of the year with 14 points, while Derrick Colter added 17.
Most impressive, however, was the Dukes’ transition game. The Duquesne guards, especially Colter and Johnson, did an exceptional job of finding the open man downcourt, which often led to open shots and trips to the free throw line. As a result, the home team found themselves in the bonus early on in the game. The Privateers allowed the Dukes 21 fast break points to their 6. Duquesne also recorded their largest rebounding margin of the season (+26).
Shooting well never hurts either. Duquesne shot 19 for 38 (50%) in the first half and 31 for 68 for the game. Duquesne was 10 for 27 from 3-point range on the evening, against a New Orleans team that ranked No. 3 in the nation in 3-point defense through their first four games.
“I think the difference between this game and last game—we (weren’t) hitting our shots. And I think we were forcing our shots also. Today everyone contributed,” Sean Johnson stated afterwards. The senior guard surpassed the 1000-point mark for his college career on Saturday night, becoming the 37th player in Duquesne history to do so.
Duquesne stayed in control of things, but New Orleans shot well and was able to hang around. The main reason for this was point guard Rarlensee Nelson, who was ranked No. 5 in the nation in assists per game prior to December 2nd.. Nelson picked up 10 points and 10 assists throughout the night. His assist total more than tripled the total number of assists made by the rest of his team.
Nelson apparently injured his leg after sliding hard into the advertisement board behind his offensive basket in the final minutes of play.
Following the game, Coach Ferry spoke briefly of the performance of senior Andre Marhold. Ferry said he talked to Marhold yesterday in practice, reminding the forward that he is a senior and that his team needs more from him.
Although he isn’t the biggest stats guy, Marhold shows up to play every game. But when he’s really on, it is often a rally point for the rest of his team. He demonstrated this tonight with a couple emphatic dunks and a pair of blocks.
“We need (Andre) to play like this every game,” Johnson added. “We just can’t shoot threes and have guards penetrating all the time; we need to go inside also.”
“If he can continue to play this way, we’re going to take some huge steps forward,” Ferry agreed.
Coming off the big loss to Pitt, Marhold stated that the team focused on physicality and enthusiasm in practice. Duquesne hosts West Virginia at Consol Energy Center this Tuesday, and although the Mountaineers aren’t a strong shooting team, they have formidable size. The Dukes must not back down from the physicality they showed tonight.
Photo Credit: Duquesne Athletics
