PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Duquesne would jump out to an early lead and keep a double-digit margin between themselves and Dayton most of the night for a 69-65 win. Not just a big win against a good Dayton program, but the first in the refurbished and renamed UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on-campus arena.
“I would describe this night as a dream come true,” said forward Marcus Weathers. “Just to be able to see the Fieldhouse and see the atmosphere with a little bit of the fans. I think a dream come true would be the best way to describe it.”
“I would have been kind of a downer not to (win),” said head coach Keith Dambrot dryly. “It was a good win for us. We played much better than we did the first time against them.”
Weathers would finish with a team-high 20 points on 6 of 10 FG, adding five assists. Michael Hughes with 13 points and 14 rebounds. That’s his fourth double-double in his last five games and his 12th double-double at Duquesne.
Dukes shot 47%-FG, 24%-3 and 64%-FT. Rebounding was key, outnumbering Dayton by 7 and allowing just six on the offensive glass.
“I think it was a testament to how Mike Hughes was playing,” Weathers said. “He just went out there from start to finish.”
“We dominated the inside, which is how we are built,” Dambrot said. “We’re beating people’s brains in inside. That’s kinda important for us. That’s how we’ve built the whole program.”
Duquesne had beaten the Flyers just one time in the previous 10 meetings before tonight and five of those losses by double digits. One by 37 points.
Its about the name on the building
Dambrot want to make sure for how great it was to be in the building and win; he wanted to honor the name of Chuck Cooper.
“My dad came right after Chuck Cooper was leaving,” Dambrot said. “I know what Duquesne stood for and what they believed in. Just what Chuck Cooper has done for the city. The trail-blazingness of what he did in the NBA. The Jackie Robinson of the NBA. That name on the building means a lot to me.”
Chuck Cooper’s son has been a fixture with this team.
“Young Chuck has been around our program a lot and has really spent a lot of time around our players,” Dambrot said. “I think that very, very important. His ties to the city and the African-American community through all of the racial tensions that have gone on in the last year. It’s important that he’s around our guys. We’ve talked about it for a long time.”
First basket
Freshman Chad Baker with a three pointer 41 seconds into the game off a feed from Hughes were the first points in the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The guard was the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for his 11.5 points, 3.5 assists, 2 rebounds and 1.5 steals in games against Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure last week.
Hot Start
After Baker’s three, the Dukes would make their next six shots as well building a 15-5 lead at the first TV timeout. The lead would grow to as high as 20 as Duquesne shot 57.1 percent in the first half, 35.7 percent from three, were a plus 7 in rebounds and plus 8 on fast break points. Hughes had 11 points and 9 rebounds and that first assist in the first half.
Up Next
Duquesne will play a second true home game this season Sunday. Again on national TV and again against a solid Atlantic 10 program. Dukes host VCU at 4p on the NBC Sports Network.