The 2009–10 Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team represented

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...

in 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Duquesne hoped to build on the success of the 2008–09 season and began the new year with five straight victories. Soon, however, a string of setbacks hit the team, including the loss of two players, one due to injury and the other to suspension. Duquesne lost its final non-conference game and slipped into a five-game losing streak. The team did manage to break the streak, but had trouble gaining any momentum. In mid-February the Dukes finally seemed to break free with a solid 21 point victory over La Salle, followed by a crucial road upset of the University of Charlotte, which was ranked first in the Atlantic 10 Conference at the time, and finally another upset of the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

Flyers in front of a sellout Pittsburgh crowd. However, Duquesne then lost its final two road games of the season. Despite its lackluster season's end, Duquesne won an invitation to the

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI s ...

postseason tournament. The team lost to the

Princeton Tigers The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in ...

, and the Dukes were eliminated in the first round, ending the 2009 season.

Duquesne University

, also called Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit, is a private

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

university in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, United States. The university's

Duquesne Dukes The Duquesne Dukes are the athletic teams of Duquesne University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Dukes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Football and bowling, however ...

compete in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I (D-I). D-I schools are generally the major collegiate athletic powers, with larger budgets, more elaborate facilities, and higher numbers of athletic scholarships in comparison to Division II and III. This level was once called the University Division of the NCAA, and the Division II and III levels, the College Division; this terminology was replaced with the current numeric (I, II, III) divisions in 1973. The Dukes have played twice in national championship games in the 1950s and won the National Invitation Tournament championship in 1955, when the NIT was the premier collegiate basketball tournament in the country. The men's basketball Dukes annually play its cross-town rival, the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

Panthers, in Pittsburgh's highly anticipated and well-attended

City Game The City Game is an annual college basketball game between the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the Duquesne University Dukes. The term "City Game" is also used refer to women's basketball games played annually between the two universities ...

. The current head coach is

Ron Everhart Ronald Cochran Everhart (born January 11, 1962) is an American college basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach at West Virginia University. Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, he was previously head coach at Duquesne University, Nor ...

, who has a two-year record of 27–32 (13–19 in the Atlantic 10 Conference). Well-known Duquesne players of the past include

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

ns Chuck Cooper,

Sihugo Green Sihugo "Si" Green (August 20, 1933 – October 4, 1980) was an American professional basketball player. After playing college basketball for the Duquesne Dukes, he was selected as the first pick of the 1956 NBA draft by the Rochester Royals. ...

Dick Ricketts Richard James Ricketts, Jr. (December 4, 1933 – March 6, 1988) was an American professional basketball and baseball player. Ricketts was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1955 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks out of Duquesne University. Ricketts pl ...

and

Willie Somerset Willard F. Somerset (born March 17, 1942) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, Somerset attended Farrell High School in Farrell, Pennsylvania and later, Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvani ...

, and

Norm Nixon Norman Ellard Nixon (born October 11, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played with Scav ...

, who won the Most Outstanding Player in Duquesne's 57–54 victory over the

Villanova Wildcats The Villanova Wildcats are the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East (NCAA Division I) for every sport; except football and rowing where they compete in the Colonial Athletic Association ( Football Championship ...

in the 1977 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament.

Preseason

Duquesne lost only one starter, Aaron Jackson, from the 2008–09 team which ended with a record of 21–13, the first time since 1981 that the school had 20 or more wins in a season. Picked to finish 12th in the

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

, Duquesne went on to finish second, losing to

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

by only five points in the conference championship game. This earned Duquesne a bid into the National Invitation Tournament, its first postseason appearance since 1994. The team was eliminated in a double-overtime first round loss to

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

, but the Dukes' unlikely success inspired the hope of a return to the NIT, or perhaps even the NCAA tournament. On May 12, 2009, the school announced that two freshman forwards, Shawntez Patterson and Aleksandar Milovic, had been released from their scholarships and cleared to transfer to other schools. Both saw limited action in the 2008 season. Shawntez Patterson transferred to

Pensacola Junior College Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal c ...

, and Aleksandar Milovic transferred to the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. Andre Marhold, a

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

and the first of two incoming freshmen, signed with Duquesne on April 16. Marhold, a native of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

who moved to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

for High School, averaged 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game his senior year, in which his team was the regular season champion. He was ranked 188 in the top 1000 high school seniors by Hoop Scoop. Marhold turned down scholarship offers from Clemson,

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, and Purdue. Several weeks later on May 13,

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

Sean Johnson of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York also signed with the team. He attended Christ the King high school, whose basketball team finished his senior year ranked fourth in the state and eleventh in the nation by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

. He averaged 22.4 points per game and was named New York City Catholic High School Athletic Association Most Valuable Player. Johnson also received scholarship offers from

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, and

Quinnipiac Quinnipiac is the English name for the Eansketambawg (meaning "original people"; ''cf.'' Ojibwe: '' Anishinaabeg'' and Blackfoot: ''Niitsítapi''), a Quiripi-speaking Native American nation of the Algonquian family who inhabited the ''Wamp ...

. Prior to the start of the season, ESPN picked Duquesne to finish fifth in the

conference, noting the loss of star Aaron Jackson but looking with optimism at the addition of

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Morakinyo Williams and the continued development of other stars. Sophomore Melquan Bolding was also highlighted by ESPN as a key player in the Atlantic 10. 09Dukes

Incoming recruits

Roster

Source

Coaching staff

returned for his fourth season as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

. After the departure of previous coach

Danny Nee Daniel Hugh Nee (born June 18, 1945) is an American basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Ohio University from 1980 to 1986, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1986 to 2000, Robert Morris University in 2000–0 ...

, Everhart steadily improved the team's record year after year, taking the team from 3–24 the year before he arrived to the 21–13 record of 2008–09. Everhart attended

, from which he graduated in 1985. He served as an assistant coach at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

, and

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

. In 1995, he took his first head coaching job at

McNeese State University McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. M ...

, and also coached at Northeastern University before moving to Duquesne in 2006. Bill Barton returned for his third season as Associate Head Coach. Steve Hall and Scott Rigot both served as assistant coaches for their second year. Jason Byrd was the Director of Basketball Operations.

Regular season

Exhibition, Nicholls State, and Iowa

The Dukes played their first game of the season on November 7 in an exhibition match against Division III La Roche. Duquesne scored a 47-point victory in which Damian Saunders led in scoring with 17 points. Despite the solid win, Duquesne made only 47.6% from the

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

line, a trend which haunted the team the rest of the season. The regular season home-opener was another victory for the team, as they defeated Nicholls State 85–62 on November 13. Early in the game, Melquan Bolding hit the floor on a hard foul during a breakaway. After a few minutes, he recovered and went on to lead the team with 25 points. Saunders scored 17 points with 19 rebounds, his first of a long streak of

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

s. This game was also the second and final game of B.J. Monteiro's 2-game suspension following allegations of participating in a robbery. Three days later, it was announced that Bolding had fractured his wrist when he was fouled, and would be unable to play for 4–6 weeks. Despite the loss of Bolding, the team went on the road to face

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

on November 17, with newly returned B.J. Monteiro starting in place of Melquan Bolding. When down 49–50 with 11.7 seconds left, Bill Clark took an off-balance 3-point shot which spun in, putting the team up 52–50 and sealing their second victory of the regular season. This was Duquesne's first ever victory at a

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

arena, and its first victory against a Big Ten school since a win over

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

in 1973.

The CBE Classic

The team then traveled to

Cullowhee, North Carolina Cullowhee
, from the North Carolina Collection website at the

for three games as part of the

O'Reilly Auto Parts O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. is an American auto parts retailer that provides automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment, and accessories to professional service providers and do-it-yourself customers. Founded in 1957 by the O’Reil ...

CBE Classic The Hall of Fame Classic powered by ShotTracker (formerly known as the College Basketball Experience Classic, Guardians Classic and the CBE Hall of Fame Classic) is an annual season-opening college basketball tournament founded in 2001. The tourname ...

. Duquesne defeated

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

70–52 to extend its record to 3–0, with Saunders leading the way with 24 points. The next day the team improved to 4–0 with an overtime 75–72 victory against Division II Arkansas-Monticello. On the third day of play, Duquesne finally lost to Western Carolina, 77–83.

The City Game and Chuck Cooper Classic

The Dukes then returned home, where they faced Radford on November 29. B.J. Monteiro continued to perform well as a starter in replacing Melquan Bolding, leading the team with 21 points. Next up for the team was the annual City Game match-up between Duquesne and its crosstown rival Pitt. In front of 12,336 fans at the

Mellon Arena The Civic Arena, formerly the Civic Auditorium and later Mellon Arena, was an arena located in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Civic Arena primarily served as the home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the city's National Hockey League (NHL) ...

, Duquesne sprang out to a 16-point lead before slipping and losing 58–67 in double overtime. Bill Clark led all players with 23 points but the team hit foul trouble, with Saunders, Monteiro, and Peggau all fouling out in the final minutes. On December 5, Duquesne hosted the Chuck Cooper Classic, in which it defeated the

Savannah State Tigers The Savannah State Tigers and Lady Tigers are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic teams that play for Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia. Conference affiliation Savannah State University holds membership in the NCAA Division ...

by a score of 58–44. Eric Evans led with 17 points and Damian Saunders contributed 15.

West Virginia, Robert Morris, and Canisius

Four days later, the Dukes were blown out 39–68 by #7

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

. Saunders led the team with only 12 points. One analyst attributed this loss to the skill of the Mountaineers, an abysmal night by star Bill Clark, as well as the continued absence of Melquan Bolding and now senior captain Jason Duty, who missed the game with a sprained ankle. On December 12 the Dukes faced off against another local rival, Robert Morris. In a 59–54 win, B.J. Monteiro again led the team with 17 points. Monteiro's continued high level of play prompted some analysts, as well as fans, to wonder whether the approaching return of Melquan Bolding would send Monteiro back to the bench, or if someone else would lose their starting position. Four days later the Dukes held off the

Canisius Golden Griffins The Canisius College Golden Griffins are composed of 16 teams representing Canisius College in intercollegiate athletics. These teams include men's and women's basketball, cross country, track, lacrosse, soccer, and swimming and diving. Men's spo ...

in a double overtime 86–77 victory at home. Bill Clark and Damian Saunders both contributed double doubles while B.J. Monteiro scored a career high 27 points.

The end of non-conference play

The team then traveled to Indianapolis, where they lost to IUPUI 64–73, despite a career high 20 points from Eric Evans. In their final game before a short Christmas break, Duquesne defeated the

Saint Francis Red Flash The Saint Francis Red Flash are the 23 sports teams representing Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania in intercollegiate athletics. The Red Flash competes in the NCAA Division I and are primary members of the Northeast Conference, with ...

86–56. Damian Saunders scored his tenth double-double, making him the national leader in that statistic, as well as second in rebounds. Following the break, Duquesne lost its final non-conference game to the

Old Dominion Monarchs The Old Dominion Monarchs are composed of 18 intercollegiate athletic teams representing Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, Virginia. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, sailing, soccer, swimming, and tennis. Wo ...

by a score of 54–63, the first of a five-game losing streak. Saunders still managed to post his eleventh double-double, coming just one block short of what would have been only the second triple-double in school history.

Early conference play

Duquesne opened conference play on January 6 in a match against the

Richmond Spiders The Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The Spiders compete in the Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. The Spider na ...

, a team which the Dukes had not defeated since the Spiders joined the Atlantic 10 in 2001. This game marked the return of Melquan Bolding, though he did not start and scored only three points in fourteen minutes of playing time. Richmond managed to extend their streak, defeating the Dukes 86–80, while Saunders maintained his nation-leading position and now placed eighth in both blocks and steals. Duquesne then traveled to

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

where they lost to the

Dayton Flyers The Dayton Flyers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Dayton of Dayton, Ohio. All Flyers intercollegiate sports teams participate at the NCAA Division I level. The football team competes in the Division I FCS non-schola ...

72–78 in overtime in front of a crowd of 13,435, the largest crowd the team would see all season. Senior Jason Duty was fouled on a 3-point attempt at the end of the game when his team was down by one, but made only one of three foul shots, sending the game into overtime. Melquan Bolding scored 13 points in 36 minutes, though he did not start, and Saunders came into the game now leading the nation in rebounds. Duquesne found itself in overtime once again as they dropped another game against the

St. Louis Billikens The Saint Louis Billikens are the collegiate athletic teams that represent Saint Louis University, located in St. Louis, Missouri. The Billikens compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the A ...

in double overtime, 75–79. Melquan Bolding suffered another setback as he sat out most of the game, playing only five minutes due to

strep throat Streptococcal pharyngitis, also known as streptococcal sore throat (strep throat), is pharyngitis (an infection of the pharynx, the back of the throat) caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a gram-positive, group A streptococcus. Common sympto ...

. The team then went back out on the road to face the

Rhode Island Rams The Rhode Island Rams are the athletic programs of the University of Rhode Island, based in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. The Rams compete in the NCAA's Division I as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The football team, howev ...

, where they again lost with a final score of 67–75, dropping their conference record to 0–4. Bill Clark missed a game for the first time in his college career due to a suspension on suspicion of a "secondary NCAA rules violation." Melquan Bolding started the game for the first time since his injury, but only scored 6 points.

First conference win, Xavier, and Saint Joseph's

Two days later, Clark was reinstated. With Clark back in the lineup for a home game against St. Bonaventure ''Bonnies'', Ron Everhart tried a new starting lineup: one that included Bolding and Monteiro, but left Senior Jason Duty on the bench. The Dukes took a 15-point lead at half time, but the Bonnies came back. With less than thirty seconds left, Bill Clark drew a charging penalty which gave his team the ball, down by two. One quick possession by each team left it 67–69 in favor of the Bonnies. On the final play, Damian Saunders drove towards the basket before passing it out to Melquan Bolding, who hit a 3-point shot to put the Dukes up by one with 3.5 seconds remaining. Duquesne won 70–69, giving them their first win since December 22. The winning feeling was short-lived, however, as the Dukes were shut down by the

Xavier Musketeers The Xavier Musketeers are the 16 teams representing Xavier University in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. The Musk ...

on January 28, losing 86–50. Melquan Bolding led the team with 14 points, Damian Saunders scored only 6, and Bill Clark only 4. On January 31 the team pulled out a 74–71 win against the

Saint Joseph's Hawks The Saint Joseph's Hawks are the athletic teams that represent Saint Joseph's University of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Hawks compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference ...

at home, with Melquan Bolding leading the team with 24 points.

Temple, George Washington, and Massachusetts

Once again, though, the Dukes were unable to build momentum as they lost 60–76 to #19 ranked

. Bill Clark and Eric Evans led the team with just 12 points each. On February 6, the Dukes braved a

blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling ...

for a game against the

George Washington Colonials The George Washington Colonials are the athletic teams of George Washington University of Washington, D.C. The Colonials compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference for m ...

in Washington, D.C.. Saunders led the way to a 70–63 win with a career-high 27 points. Returning home on February 11 to face the

Massachusetts Minutemen The UMass Minutemen are the athletic teams that represent the University of Massachusetts Amherst; strictly speaking, the ''Minutemen'' nickname applies to men's teams and athletes only — women's teams and athletes are known as ...

, the Dukes were unable to win two consecutive games for the third straight time, losing 80–84. Damian Saunders scored 15 points, but was injured and left the game for a while; when he returned, he did not score in the remainder of his playing time. He did, however, become Duquesne's 33rd player to pass the 1,000 career points mark.

Introducing the 10–40, Charlotte, and a rematch with Dayton

Duquesne enjoyed another game at home on February 14 against the

La Salle Explorers The La Salle Explorers are the varsity sports teams from La Salle University in Philadelphia. The Explorers compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The men's and women's basketball teams are also participate in the Ph ...

. Ron Everhart sought a new strategy for his team, which was struggling in conference play. In this game, La Salle was missing three players, leaving them with an active roster of only eight players. Duquesne ran a 10–40 pattern, in which two squads of five players execute short, intense bursts before being switched out for the other squad. At first, Duquesne fell behind by 14 points, but the strategy paid off as La Salle's players tired. With La Salle fatigued, Duquesne switched back to a normal rotation and went on to win 103–82. Bill Clark scored a career high 34 points, and also surpassed the 1,000 point mark. Dayton Palumbo

As underdogs on the road against the

Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

, the Dukes' new 10–40 strategy led them to an 83–77 upset victory. This was the first time of the season the team had managed to win two consecutive conference games. On February 21, Duquesne again returned home for a nationally televised game against the

. Senior Jason Duty was honored in a

pre-game ceremony A pre-game ceremony or pre-match ceremony is an on-field ceremony occurring before a sporting event. Such ceremonies may celebrate a past event, honour a retiring athlete, commemorate a deceased athlete, or promote a cause. Celebrating past event ...

, and the game's attendance of 5,144 was only 214 short of the A.J. Palumbo Center's capacity. A late layup drive by Damian Saunders put the Dukes up by one, and they went on to win 73–71.

Ending the regular season

Duquesne was unable to extend its streak on the road against St. Louis, as they lost 59–69. Bill Clark led the team with 17 points and Saunders grabbed four steals, enough to raise his per-game average to 2.9, a nation-leading figure. With this, Saunders had at one point led the nation in double-doubles, rebounds, and steals. The Dukes lost again, 80–92, in their final road game against Saint Bonaventure. The loss put a damper on Duquesne's hopes for a home game in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament, as they fell into a tie for the ninth seed position. Duquesne closed its season against Fordham, who had yet to win a conference game and had only won two games all season. Fordham was hungry for a win, and a lack of effective defense on both sides led to a high scoring 111–100 victory for Duquesne. Melquan Bolding and Eric Evans both posted career high scores of 32 and 23, respectively.

Postseason

After Duquesne lost to Saint Bonaventure, the Bonnies also lost their final regular season game to Xavier, which left the two teams in a tie for the eighth seed and the home tournament game that went with it. The two teams had played each other twice during the season, with each team taking one victory, so the second tiebreaker came down to who had scored the best victory. Duquesne's best win came against Charlotte, while Saint Bonaventure's was against Rhode Island. Unfortunately, those two teams were also in a tie. So for Duquesne to get their home game, Charlotte had to win their final home game, and Rhode Island had to lose. Both teams lost, so the tie remained and Rhode Island won out due to their head-to-head records. Thus Duquesne would head back out on the road against the Bonnies. The game was played on March 9 and was close until the Bonnies went on a 14–0 run halfway into the second half, going on to win 71–83. Despite Damian Saunders posting his 20th and final double-double of the year, Duquesne's 5 for 21 performance from beyond the 3-point arc combined with St. Bonaventure's 75% 3-point shooting and two players scoring in the upper twenties put the game out of the Dukes' reach. The loss dashed Duquesne's last hopes at a bid to the NIT. However, an invitation to either the

(CBI) or

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was an American men's college basketball postseason tournament founded by Collegeinsider.com. The tournament was oriented toward schools that did not get selected for the NCAA Division I men's ...

was still possible. Early on March 15, hours after the NCAA and NIT fields were announced, Duquesne accepted a bid into the CBI. This would be Duquesne's 23rd postseason appearance and first in the CBI, which started in 2008. This also marked the first time since 1981 that the Dukes made two consecutive postseason appearances. It was announced that the Dukes would face off against the

Jadwin Gymnasium The L. Stockwell Jadwin Gymnasium is a 6,854-seat multi-purpose arena at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the Princeton Tigers college basketball teams. It replaced Dillon Gymnasium, the home ...

on March 17. On Tuesday, March 16, it was announced that Junior Bill Clark had been suspended indefinitely from the team due to "conduct" issues. Clark had not attended practice the day before and would not travel to Princeton with the team for the CBI opening game on Wednesday. This would be only the second game that Bill Clark has missed in his college career. Duquesne suffered its final disappointment of the season on March 17 as it fell to the Princeton Tigers. Bill Clark remained suspended and Damian Saunders led the team with only 14 points. Duquesne dominated the game early on, taking a 20–11 lead before Princeton came back, eventually leading 28–23 at the half. The Dukes were unable to turn the momentum and continued to fall behind, eventually losing 51–65. The absence of Bill Clark showed on defense, as the Dukes were out-rebounded heavily. The Dukes also failed to improve on their issues from the regular season, going only 8 for 18 from the free throw line and 3 for 15 from 3-point range. This loss ended the 2009 season, and all Duquesne could do was look ahead to the next year.

Schedule

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2010 College Basketball Invitational The 2010 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a single-elimination tournament of 16 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament or the 201 ...

Statistics

Duquesne was plagued by a few issues during the 2009 season. Most notable were the poor free-throw and 3-point shooting percentages. Duquesne was last in the Atlantic 10 in both of these categories at 60.8% and 26.3% respectively. Despite their poor performance shooting from beyond the 3-point line, Duquesne still shot the fourth most three-pointers of all teams in the Atlantic 10. The following chart displays player per-game average statistics for the regular season and Atlantic 10 tournament. Source

Awards and controversies

Duquesne players received a few accolades in the 2009–10 season. Junior Damian Saunders's outstanding play earned him a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team. He was also named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year. Earlier in the season, Jason Duty was nominated as a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS award, an award which recognizes college seniors who demonstrate exemplary outstanding performance both on the court and in the classroom. Duty, who held a 3.72

GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

as an accounting major and had already accepted a job with

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

, was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team. Early in the season, Damian Saunders was named Atlantic 10 (A-10) player of the week for two consecutive weeks, sharing the honors with Chris Wright of Dayton and Jordan Crawford of Xavier, respectively. Following his 34-point performance against La Salle, Bill Clark earned his first career A-10 Player of the Week award, with Richmond's Kevin Anderson. The season was also marred by a few controversies. Prior to the beginning of play, B.J. Monteiro was arrested on October 3 in Middletown, Connecticut. He turned himself into police on suspicion of participating in the theft of a laptop, iPod, and cash from a house during a party in early August. He was charged with third-degree

larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Eng ...

and, on October 6, he was suspended indefinitely from the team. Following his court appearance on October 13, all charges were dropped and Monteiro was reinstated to the team. In late January, Junior Bill Clark was benched for the game against Rhode Island as the NCAA investigated a potential secondary rules violation. The specific details of the incident were not released by Duquesne, even after Clark's return to the team the next day. A secondary rules violation is defined as "one that is isolated or inadvertent in nature, provides or is intended to provide only a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage." In the postseason, Bill Clark was again suspended, this time by coach Everhart for a conduct issue. The day before the CBI game against Princeton, Everhart announced that Clark would not travel to the game or participate in any practices or team activities until he felt the student ready to return. Clark was reinstated two weeks later, and, as before, no details were revealed.

Notes

External links

The official Duquesne Dukes men's basketball site

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette DukesBlog
{{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team Duquesne Duquesne Dukes men's basketball seasons Duquesne 2009 in sports in Pennsylvania 2010 in sports in Pennsylvania