PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Picked to finish last in the Atlantic 10 Duquesne hosted a VCU team projected to finish third—and never trailed. Dukes win leading by double-digits most of the way, the final, 79-70.
It was 8-7 Dukes early in the game and then about 10 minutes of game-time later it was 30-8. Duquesne holding VCU scoreless for a stretch of 6:04 in the first half.
"We talked about coming out with a lot of energy, having a lot of juice," said forward RJ Gunn. "Making sure we got stops. In the previous games we felt like we didn't get enough stops at the beginning of the game to get out to a good start. That's something we focused on."
VCU revenge
Jimmy Clark signed with VCU out of high school, months before COVID hit the world. Clark spent two seasons with the Rams as a bench player before playing at a Junior College and this off-season committing to Duquesne. Wednesday night he dropped a career-high 26 points and five steals on his first team, adding six rebounds.
"Every time the game got close, he made an unbelievable play," said Duquesne Head Coach Keith Dambrot. "I'm happy for him. I talked to (VCU) Coach Rhoades before we took Jimmy and he gave him a pretty strong approval rating. People go through some things in their life. That redemption factor is a big thing."
"I had this marked on my calendar since the day I committed," Clark said. "This was a game that was very important to me. Coming from VCU and having that chip on my shoulder. Then to have to go to JUCO and come back to the same conference and play my old team. All I can say is thank God, for real."
The career night included a break away steal and dunk where he threw the ball off the backboard, caught it and dunked it in one motion. Like something you'd see in a dunk contest.
"People may not believe, it's something I practice a lot," Clark said. "I knew whenever I got the opportunity, it was going to happen eventually. The energy was great with the crowd. I fed off the energy.
"I knew I had to make it. If I was going to attempt it, I had to make it."
Notes
· DaeDae Grant finished with 13 points, he's reached double-figures in 14 of 16 games with Duquesne
· Forward RJ Gunn finished with a Division One career-high 13 points
· Joe Reece finished a point and rebound from a double-double
· Dukes held a 17-5 edge in bench points
· It was Duquesne's first ever win in Pittsburgh against VCU, now 1-4
· Dukes held VCU to one assist in the first half
Up Next
Duquesne starts a three-game road trip at Richmond at 6p on Saturday. Dukes are next home against Fordham on Saturday, January 21 at 2p.
