Duquesne will dance for the first time since 1977 as they took down VCU in the A10 Mens Finals matchup on Sunday, 57-51.
VCU found themselves down 18 points in the first half as a hot-shooting Dukes squad connected on 7 of their 14 attempts from distance in the first 20 minutes.
Down 36-22 at the half, the Rams had turned the ball over 8 times leading to 9 points for the Dukes.
Duquesne defense did enough in the first half to keep the Rams to a 39% shooting performance from the floor, and only 20% from deep.
Joe Bamisile was the only VCU player with more than 3 points at intermission—he had 10 points at the break.
Bamisile netted another 10 points in the second half and led the Rams with 20 points.
Zeb Jackson was the only other Ram in double-digit scoring with 11 points—all coming in the second half.
VCU came out of the locker room and rattled off a 17-6 run to pull within 4 points of the Dukes.
With just 1 minute to play VCU managed to pull the game to just a one point margin, but the rims locked up and the Rams missed 4 of their last 5 shots in the final 60 seconds.
Forced to foul, the Rams sent the Dukes to the free throw line where they hit 6 free throws to finalize the game—including 4 from former Ram, Tre Clark.
VCU held Duquesne to just 17% from the floor in the second half and only 5 made field goals, but the first half deficit proved too much to overcome.
The Rams will now wait to see if the NIT Tournament extends an invitation.
VCU found themselves down 18 points in the first half as a hot-shooting Dukes squad connected on 7 of their 14 attempts from distance in the first 20 minutes.
Down 36-22 at the half, the Rams had turned the ball over 8 times leading to 9 points for the Dukes.
Duquesne defense did enough in the first half to keep the Rams to a 39% shooting performance from the floor, and only 20% from deep.
Joe Bamisile was the only VCU player with more than 3 points at intermission—he had 10 points at the break.
Bamisile netted another 10 points in the second half and led the Rams with 20 points.
Zeb Jackson was the only other Ram in double-digit scoring with 11 points—all coming in the second half.
VCU came out of the locker room and rattled off a 17-6 run to pull within 4 points of the Dukes.
With just 1 minute to play VCU managed to pull the game to just a one point margin, but the rims locked up and the Rams missed 4 of their last 5 shots in the final 60 seconds.
Forced to foul, the Rams sent the Dukes to the free throw line where they hit 6 free throws to finalize the game—including 4 from former Ram, Tre Clark.
VCU held Duquesne to just 17% from the floor in the second half and only 5 made field goals, but the first half deficit proved too much to overcome.
The Rams will now wait to see if the NIT Tournament extends an invitation.
