Dru Joyce III and his Duquesne Dukes will place their reigning A-10 Champion title on the line starting on Thursday when they take on a tough St. Bonaventure Bonnies team. Here’s all you need to know about this second-round clash.
Date: 3/13/25
Time: 11:30 AM EST
TV: Capital One Arena | Washington, D.C.
Watch: USA Network
Season Series
The season series was even at one game a piece in the regular season. The Dukes hit 13 threes en route to a dominating home win over the Bonnies in the first matchup on January 18. A month later, the Bonnies took down the Dukes by 7 points. The Dukes had multiple chances to tie in with under 3 minutes to go, but they could not cash in.
Last year, Duquesne defeated the Bonnies 70-60 in the A-10 Tournament semifinals. Dae Dae Grant had 27 points in the win and Daryl Banks led the Bonnies with 14. None of those two are with their team this year.
How Did Duquesne Get Here?
Things were looking very bleak for the Dukes on December 3. They continued to be winless at home with a loss to Saint Peter’s 62-59. This dropped them to a lowly 1-6. They held multiple “players-only” meetings that month and nothing was working. Dru Joyce was really looking for consistency from his guys.
“I just want us to keep improving, myself included, on a day-to-day basis with how we manage our day, how we can be our very best and then gaining some consistency with our level of play,” Joyce said back in December after the loss to the Peacocks.
The consistency certainly came. After that game, they finished their non-conference schedule by winning four of theirnext five games, with big winning margins against Towson and UC Irvine. The success continued into conference play with a 4-1 start. They took down teams like Saint Joseph’s and St. Bonaventure at home with their first of two road wins on the season against George Washington sandwiched between the two.
Hard times hit the Dukes after the win over the Bonnies because a loss to Dayton ignited an ugly five-game losing streak. During this dry spell, they suffered brutal losses down the stretch of games to lowly Fordham and Richmond. The level of play dropped and things needed to turn around again, and fast. That happened with a win over Loyola Chicago sparkinganother sharp stretch. Duquesne lost a true heartbreaker to Dayton but won three of their next four contests, with the highlight being the win over George Mason at home on March 1. Duquesne rounded out their season with a loss to VCU and SLU.
What Do The Dukes Excel In?
Duquesne has massively improved defensively this season. They are the fifth best when it comes to scoring defense, blocks and rebounds in the A-10. Karem Rozier leads all players in the conference with a 3.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Dukes force over 13 turnovers a game and as a result, rank third in turnover margin.
Scouting The Bonnies
St. Bonaventure presents a unique challenge for the Dukes, as they will get their third chance at them, and in the first two games this year, they haven’t played particularly well. They were run out of the gym in January and in February, they almost let a double-digit second-half lead slip away at home. On top of that, they lost five games heading into that home win against the Dukes. This is, without a doubt, a very motivated Bonnies squad.
It also has some experienced pieces on its team with guards Chance Moore and Melvin Council Jr. and center Noel Brown. Moore is averaging a hair under 13 PPG and 6 RPG. Council leads the team in points with 14.5 a game and over 4 assists a game. Noel Brown, standing strong at 6’11 and 255 points, averages 12.6 PPG and mans the middle for the team.
The Bonnies have been up and down in conference play, sitting at an even 9-9 record. Overall, they are 21-10, with a strong non-conference win against Providence. In conference play, they were up and down with big wins over VCU and Dayton while dropping close ones to La Salle, Fordham, Rhode Island and Davidson.
They boast a top-three defense in the conference with only 64.8 PPG allowed to their opponents. Their offense isn’t nearly as good, ranked a lowly 13th in the A-10. Council is second in the conference in steals to help his squad rank fifth in that category.
Players To Watch
Eli Wilborn (DUQ): In a surprising turn of events, Eli Wilborn has taken the starting center spot by force and has started at center in each of the last 12 contests. Specifically, he is averaging 9.3 PPG in the last six games. He plays a big role for the Dukes and when he gets going, it is really hard to stop him. In his first Atlantic 10 Tournament game, he will undoubtedly be under the spotlight down in the paint. Look for him to have an opportunity to break out on one of the biggest stages in college basketball.
Lajae Jones (SBU): In his last game against Duquesne, he went off for 24 points in the win. He made four 3-pointers as well and each one was just as big as the one before. He followed that up with 14 against Saint Joseph’s and 15 against UMass. Not to mention, he put up double figures in the first matchup against the Dukes. He seems to play some reallygood ball against them, so be on the lookout for him to try and burn the Dukes again and send them packing.
