Duquesne ousts No. 24 Dayton, star big man DaRon Holmes II from A-10 tourney, 65-57

Thu, Mar 14, 2024
NCAAB News (AP)

NEW YORK (AP) - Jimmy Clark III scored 16 points and Duquesne held off star big man DaRon Holmes II and No. 24 Dayton 65-57 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Holmes scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half, but the Flyers (24-7), who came in with a NET ranking of 21, struggled from the field and now will have to rely on an at-large bid to make the NCAA Tournament.

No other team in the A-10 is in the top 70, but the league only got one bid last season for the first time since 2005. This year, all four top seeds lost in the tournament quarterfinals, leaving No. 5 seed VCU as the highest-seeded team remaining.

Seeking their first appearance in March Madness since 1977, the streaking Dukes (22-11) advanced to the semifinals of the conference tourney for the first time since 2009. Duquesne has won a season-high six straight and 13 of 16 after a rough start in A-10 play.

The Dukes will face seventh-seeded St. Bonaventure on Saturday after the Bonnies beat No. 2 seed Loyola Chicago in double overtime. Top seed Richmond was beaten by Saint Joseph's.

Holmes had 13 rebounds, shot 5 of 13 and hit a career-high 13 free throws, but the Flyers shot 32% percent overall and missed 19 of 26 3-point tries.

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Holmes hit two free throws to give Dayton a 52-48 lead with 7:15 left. The Dukes scored the next 10 points and held the Flyers to five points the rest of the way. Clark's 3 with 49 seconds left put the game away.

Dae Dae Grant scored 11 points for Duquesne, which shot 42.1%.

Dayton struggled from the outset, starting 2 of 13 from the field. The Flyers got within 30-28 at halftime on Javon Bennett's deep 3 late in the shot clock with 29 seconds left.

BIG PICTURE

The Flyers have been ranked as high as No. 16 in the AP Top 25 this season but went 5-4 in their final nine games.

Duquesne began 0-5 in A-10 play and had lost twice this season to Dayton, but the Dukes took advantage of a softer second half of their league schedule. They have already beaten St. Bonaventure twice.

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