Joey Sykes | The Duquesne Duke
The Duquesne men’s basketball team lost their fourth straight game on Wednesday night to the Richmond Spiders by a score of 75-58 at the Palumbo Center. Their last win was over NJIT on Jan. 29.
The Dukes headed into the matchup looking to thwart their losing streak but came up short again. The Spiders, who have won 15 of their last 16 games against the Red & Blue, entered the Palumbo Center with a 5-3 record in Atlantic 10 play (15-8 overall).
Head coach Jim Ferry put it plain and simple when it came to what happened.
“I think we got completely out played on both sides of the basketball,” Ferry said. “I thought they shredded us; our defense, man to man and zone. I thought they did a great job defending us. They are one of the best defensive teams in the league.”
The Dukes did not fare well in the opening minutes of the game. Richmond jumped out to an early 17-3 lead in the game’s first five minutes, but the Red & Blue bounced back, climbing back within seven at one point in the first half. They did not shoot very well and trailed 39-27 at the break.
When play resumed in the second half, Richmond made it apparent they were not going to let up. The Dukes’ deficit continued to widen, and at one point they were down 20.
Ovie Soko thought the team did their best, but said it was not enough.
“We just tried to stick with it,” Soko said. “We got some good, early chances. We came up short.”
Micah Mason said the loss was a result of the team’s rough start.
“It’s hard to come back from a 17-3 run,” Mason said. “It’s possible, but it’s just not acceptable.”
Ferry didn’t think his team did a good job bouncing back from the early deficit either.
“At the start of the second half, I think we cut it nine. [The team] got a little fatigued then all of a sudden we lost that lead pretty quickly,” Ferry said. “We struggled to score tonight. When you shoot 38 percent from the field, 26 from three and 50 from the foul line, you’re not gonna win that game. Not against a program like that.”
Soko and Mason were the top scorers for the Dukes. They finished with 21 and 15, respectively. Mason also now leads the NCAA in 3-pointers made percentage.
The men’s team will head to Rhode Island to take on the Rams and look to end their second four-game losing streak of the season this Saturday. Tip-off is at 12:00 p.m.
