Visit with LeBron James doesn’t rub off on Duquesne men, who lose 3rd straight
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One night after his team joined pal LeBron James in the Los Angeles Lakers locker room in Philadelphia, Duquesne coach Dru Joyce III was hoping his Dukes would glean some inspiration from the NBA superstar’s presence.
But much like the Lakers’ 118-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers — despite James’ near triple-double of 31 points, eight rebounds and nine assists — Duquesne’s fortunes soured Wednesday might at Saint Joseph’s, resulting in a third straight loss for the Dukes.
Erik Reynolds II scored 20 points, and Saint Joseph’s avenged an earlier overtime loss to Duquesne in Pittsburgh with a 76-72 home victory at Hagan Arena.
Saint Joseph’s (13-8, 4-4) overcame a two-point halftime deficit — Duquesne led by as many as five in the first half — then held off the Dukes’ furious comeback attempt in the final minute to survive and even the regular-season series.
Duquesne (9-12, 4-4) defeated Saint Joseph’s, 85-81 in overtime, on Jan. 8 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
In their latest meeting, not even some inspiration from James, a high school teammate of Joyce at Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent-St. Mary, could keep Duquesne from stumbling in the rematch with Saint Joseph’s.
Nonetheless, the two Akron natives have remained close friends since their high school days, and Joyce showed James his appreciation in a social media post on X.
“Took some time out to spend with the (king). We appreciate your message and time. Always love!!!,” Joyce wrote.
Saint Joseph’s used a 16-5 run in the second half to take control. A pair of 3-point shot by Reynolds in a span of 34 seconds ignited the rally.
A layup by Reynolds gave Saint Joseph’s its largest margin, 61-49, at the 4-minute, 17-second mark, and the Hawks converted 13 of 14 free throws in the final minute, with Reynolds sinking eight straight, as Duquesne kept scoring and fouling early in every Saint Joseph’s possession.
Xzayvier Brown added 16 points, Rasheer Fleming finished with 13 and Dasear Haskins had 10 for Saint Joseph’s, which made 29 of 35 free throws and shot 46.8% overall but made just 3 of 16 3-pointers.
Tre Dinkins III scored 15 of his game-high 27 points in the last 1:19 for Duquesne.
Dinkins, a native of nearby Chester, followed up a 26-point effort in Duquesne’s previous victory over Saint Joseph’s with his 27-point showing in the teams’ latest meeting. He made 11 of 19 shots, including 5 for 11 from behind the arc.
Cam Crawford also scored in double figures for Duquesne with 10 points.
The Dukes shot 39.4% overall and 36.7 from behind the arc (11 for 30).
Saint Joseph’s held a 38-32 rebounding edge with Brown getting nine boards to go with five assists for the Hawks.
Jahsean Corbett led Duquesne with eight rebounds.
Duquesne led 26-21 in the first half on Matus Hronsky’s 3-point shot and a layup by Eli Wilborn. But Saint Joseph’s scored the last four points of the half to trail 26-24.
The Hawks took the lead for good with 15:13 remaining on Brown’s layup, giving Saint Joseph’s a 40-38 advantage.
Duquesne returns home to face Massachusetts at 2 p.m. Saturday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.