Duquesne (10-2) defeated Robert Morris (2-10) 72-65 this afternoon at Palumbo Center, grabbing 59 rebounds to secure the win.
Dubbed by head coach Jim Ferry and his team as “tailbacking,” derived from the football position, the Dukes’ rebound margin of 26 made the best team rebounding effort since 2012.
Senior guard Derrick Colter led Duquesne with 19 points. Sophomore forward Eric James netted 13 and grabbed a career-high 8 rebounds. Senior guard Micah Mason contributed 10 points.
The Dukes lost senior Jeremiah Jones when the forward went down on a non-contact play in the first half. Head coach Jim Ferry said doctors examined Jones’ knee but nothing else is known at this point.
“It’s another big team win for us because we didn’t play well offensively, especially me and [Colter], and [James] stepped up big-time when we lost [Jones],” Mason said. “So it’s a great program win for us because last year when we weren’t doing well on offense these are the kind of games we lost.”
Sophomore forward Elijah Minnie led the Colonials and court with 23 points.
Robert Morris head coach Andrew Toole praised Minnie’s engagement in the game.
“We were as urgent as I’ve seen us all year long and we contested every three, basically,” Toole said. “We’ve got to be able to finish the possessions.”
Duquesne shot 34.4 percent from the field and 14.8 percent from the arc. The Dukes held Robert Morris to 37.7 percent from the field.
Ferry praised his team’s 21 offensive rebounds to the Colonials’ 7.
“What was impressive was our tenacity and our relentlessness on the offensive glass,” Ferry said. “We didn’t talk at all about shot-making going into this game. We just talked about offensive rebounding. You can’t control if the ball goes in on a shot but you can control your effort to go to the offensive glass and I thought our guys did a great job on that.”
Although the Dukes broke the Colonials’ five-game win streak in the series, Ferry said his team has other goals in mind.
“Each season is so different and each team is so different,” Ferry said. “For these guys, it’s more about their goal to have a winning season and compete in the Atlantic 10—that’s the big picture.”
Duquesne returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 29 when the team travels to Georgia Tech (7-3).
Photo by Rachel Konieczny
