Duquesne Fends Off Rhode Island in Second Round of Atlantic-10 Tournament

PITTSBURGH — The start of the Atlantic-10 Tournament was anything but “chalk” as some would say with the first two days featuring four-straight games in which the lower-seeded team walked away with an upset win.

The underdog win streak ended at four though as when it was time for No. 7 Duquesne to defend the city, the Dukes did just that by claiming a 67-61 victory but it took a 40-minute effort to fend off a 34-point career-outing from No. 10 Rhode Island’s Tyler Cochran.

The Dukes had multiple chances to pull away from the Rams but every time that the opportunity presented itself, Cochran stepped up and hit a three to keep his team within striking distance.

The play that all but ended it came with the ball out of Cochran’s hands and the Rams trailing just 63-58.

RJ Johnson was in the midst of bringing the ball up the court when fan-favorite David Dixon picked his pocket which led to a steal and a run-out layup from Alex Williams that gave the Dukes a seven-point lead with just 24 seconds remaining.

Duquesne came out of the gates firing but so did Rhode Island’s Tyler Cochran as his he scored the 12 of the Rams’ first 14 points which turned out to be the story of the game. The Dukes took more of an all-around approach offensively which led them to an early 17-14 advantage.

Once Archie Miller decided to sub Cochran out for a breather, the Dukes took full advantage as they clamped down on defense while a layup from Jimmie Williams and back-to-back threes from Alex Williams extended the lead out to 25-14 nine minutes into the game.

Despite scoring 25 points in the first nine minutes, the next nine would not be as kind to the Duquesne shooters as the team went without a successful field goal until the 1:55 mark of the half.

Fortunately for the Dukes, the Rams did not see much success from an offensive standpoint during that stretch either as once Cochran subbed back in, the defense was not giving him the wide open looks that he was initially getting to start off, though he found his touch again before the end of the half.

During the nine-minute stretch that the Dukes could not get a shot to fall, the Rams outscored them 11-4 but still trailed by four before Jimmie Williams sunk a layup and a three in which he was fouled while shooting as part of a 6-3 run to close the half out. The Dukes led 35-38 at halftime.

Duquesne immediately extended its lead out to 12 points at the start of the second half thanks to a personal 5-0 run by Tarence Guinyard but Rhode Island used the three to climb right back into it once again.

Cochran’s sixth three of the game, which set a career-high mark for him for threes made in a single game, followed back-to-back threes from RJ Johnson and helped the Rams cut the deficit down to five at 42-37.

His seventh of the game came just a couple of possessions later and brought the Rams back to within just three at 48-45 before he was forced to sit on the bench due to him picking up his fourth foul.

The Dukes again took advantage of Cochran’s absence as they opened up an 8-0 run to jump back ahead by double digits which forced Archie Miller’s hand at putting the sharpshooter back in and it paid off for the Rams as they essentially erased the Dukes’ run with a 7-2 streak themselves.

Cochran’s eighth three of the game came just a possession later which put the Rams just two stops and two shots away from potentially tying or taking a lead but that is when the Dukes’ leading scorer, Alex Williams, silenced the Rams’ bench with a tough layup just before the final media timeout.

The Rams cut it back down to a 63-58 deficit on the other side of the media stoppage on a three by Jonah Hinton and that is when Cochran attempted to put the fate of the game back into his hands as he isolated Dixon in transition with under two minutes to go.

After dribbling around to get Dixon off balance, Cochran pulled up from about three feet behind the three-point line and watched it wrap around the inside of the rim before bouncing out to which he could just smile and jump as he knew that was the shot that his team needed.

Rhode Island got a stop on the next two ensuing possession and still had a feasible chance to make something happen but that is when Dixon closed the game out with his steal and dime to Alex Williams from mid-court.

Alex Williams led the Dukes with 22 points and eight rebounds while Jimmie Williams added 17 points in the win. Cochran led all scorers and rebounders with a 34-point, 10-rebound double-double despite his team taking the loss.

Duquesne now advances to the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic-10 tournament but await a VCU squad that finished in second place of the A-10 that beat the Dukes at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse 93-80 back in early January.