Rhode Island was down by eight at the half against a hungry Duquesne team looking for their first Quad 1 win of the season. Backs against the wall, David Cox’s crew came into the second half and rode on the backs of their studs in Fatts Russell, Jeff Dowtin, and Tyrese Martin to a comeback win over the Dukes, 77-55. Fatts (do we just call him that now?) led the way for the Rams with 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals. Dowtin was second in scoring with 17 points. Martin posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. Langevine was out most of the first half with 2 personal fouls, but was a key factor in the second half, drawing a lot of attention down low and was able to dish out five assists on the night.
As for Duquesne, Marcus Weathers led the way with 20 points for the Dukes. No other Duke woulds score in double figures, but Maceo Austin pulled down 10 rebounds. Second leading scorer was in fact Baylee Steele with 8 points. Despite winning the rebound battle throughout the game, Duquesne committed 17 turnovers while Rhode Island committed only 6.
It was a tight game throughout the first half with both teams playing hard-nosed defense and making it hard to score in the half-court offense. It seemed that the most efficient way to score on either team was to get out in transition and score easy baskets before the other could set up their defense. Near the end of the half, Duquesne would go on a bit of a run to end the half with an 8 point lead and a +10 rebound differential over the Rams.
In the second half, the Rams continued to play stifling defense, but also started to hit shots. Rhody would force 9 turnovers in the second half, which helped them to improve their shooting percentage to 49.2% from 2 and 42.9% from 3. The Dukes would end the night shooting 32.7% from 2 and 21.7% from three.
Next up for Rhode Island is at St. Bonaventure on Saturday at 3:00 pm. Duquesne is still on the road with a match-up with Massachusetts in Amherst at 2:00 pm on Saturday as well.
