It was a fun night to be a Duquesne Dukes fan, as they rolled to a huge 81-59 win over the Niagara Purple Eagles on opening night from UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
Jimmie Williams got the Dukes going with 10 first-half points and finished with 15 points for the game. Tarence Guinyard joined Williams in the fun and had a game-high 19 in the win. Fans of the Dukes were treated to a possible preview of the next four months of basketball for their home team.
“We just built the chemistry off the court,” Guinyard said about him and Williams’ connection. “And on the court, it just all flows together.”
Williams explained postgame how he had met Guinyard years ago at a park in Tampa, Florida. When he had heard he committed to Duquesne, he was all in to join.
“We just have a great relationship on and off the court, and we gel right together,” Williams said.
Duquesne got out to a strong start in the first half. Williams scored 7 of the first 9 Duquesne points, and his layup with 14:33 to go in the first forced Niagara to spend a timeout. This start was much to the delight of the fans, who were rocking from the time the players stepped onto the floor.
“It’s positive for our players to see those people show up. It’s a good feeling,” Joyce said. “And ultimately, man, we want to make this Cooper Fieldhouse a really, really tough place for opponents to come in and play.”
Duquesne forced more Niagara disarray in the next five minutes, outscoring them 16-5 and forcing another timeout. During this run, David Dixon started off his fourth year with the Dukes on a high note with a big breakaway slam to ignite the fire of the student section.
Duquesne shot 17/27 from the field and 6/13 from beyond the arc in the first half and held a 41-20 lead after 20 minutes.
The second half featured more of the same. Niagara did cut the deficit to 13 off of an 8-0 run in the first 2:22, but after their coach Greg Paulus picked up a technical foul a minute later, the air seemed to be sucked out of the Purple Eagle rally, and Duquesne raised their lead back up to 21 again by the 13:33 mark of the second half.
The Dukes won the rebounding battle on Monday night by a 32-25 margin. A big reason for this success was the performance of John Hugley IV. Hugley had 7 points and 8 rebounds for the Dukes in his first game on The Bluff. Four other players recorded three rebounds, those being Guinyard, Dixon, Cam Crawford and Max Edwards.
Edwards had five of Duquesne’s 18 assists, tying his career-high in assists in the process. Niagara only recorded six assists on the night.
Niagara had a brutal night shooting the rock, making three-pointers at a lowly 14.3% clip (2/14). They shot 41.7 from the field
Duquesne gets a few days of rest before its next matchup on Friday night against Sacred Heart. Tip-off is at 7 PM from UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
