Duquesne has had an inspired season, overcoming players leaving, several cancelled games and competing. But eventually the Dukes weren't able to clear the hurdle of a No. 1 seed St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic-10 Championship.
The Dukes lost 75-59 to the Bonnies in the third round of the tournament on Friday, ending Duquesne's chance at stringing together consecutive tournament wins for the first time since 2009.
Duquesne hung around with St. Bonaventure early, keeping the game close with solid defense through the first eight minutes. But then the Bonnies would go on two separate seven-point runs and a ten-point run in the final minutes of the first half.
"We were predictable in some ways," Keith Dambrot said. "I kind of feel like we got what we deserved. We've been inconsistent all year. We've been inconsistent emotionally all year. We've been below average as a practice team all year, and I take full responsibility for that. We played just as inconsistently as we had all season and that game was the epitome of inconsistency."
The Dukes won their first game of the tournament by out-rebounding Richmond, dominating the paint and playing stellar defense in the second half. That had been the calling card for most of Duquesne's wins on the 9-9 season.
Dambrot's bigger players like Marcus Weathers, Michael Hughes and Chad Baker all scored in the double-digits against the Spiders. But of the Dukes' bigs, only Hughes reached that mark with 12 points against St. Bonaventure.
Instead, it was the Bonnies' front-court that dominated by out-rebounding Duquesne 40-36, and outscoring them in the paint 50-30. Much of that difference came in the first half when the Bonnies established a 21-point lead by halftime.
"Really, the whole first half was pitiful," Dambrot said. "We haven't shown that we're that far out of the league to play like that. I give our guys credit for fighting hard to get back in it, but we died on the vine again."
The Bonnies hit the Dukes from all sides. Guard Dominick Welch tied with center Osun Osunniyi for the team lead of 18 points. Welch shot 4 of 10 on 3-pointers, while Osunniyi shot 9 of 13 from the floor, recorded a double-double with 14 rebounds, had six assists and three blocks, leading the Bonnies in each stat.
Combine that with the fact that all five of the Bonnies' starters scored in the double-digits and it was a rough night for Duquesne, whose defense just couldn't keep up. The 26-point loss was the biggest the Dukes suffered on the season and the 75 points allowed was the second-most allowed in a loss.
On the other end, the Dukes had a hard time getting past the top defense in the Atlantic-10. The Bonnies allowed a 39.2 field goal percentage on the season and only 60.6 points per game, both the best marks in the conference.
That played out against the Dukes who shot 39 percent from the field came just under that 60.6 points per game average allowed. Weathers struggled with only six points, shooting 2 of 11 from the field. Duquesne missed 11 layups during the game and committed 16 turnovers to St. Bonaventure's 12.
The Bonnies also converted their points into turnovers more consistently than the Dukes, scoring 25 points of the Dukes' turnovers to the 13 points scored off theirs.
Like Dambrot said, inconsistency was the problem and it stemmed from immaturity from his players.
"It's all about maturity, character and caring about winning," Dambrot said. "We just have to keep recruiting at a high level and hold them accountable. If they wont hold themselves accountable then you have to hold them accountable no matter the consequences."
Dambrot thinks that for the Dukes to take the next step as a program, there has to be a better connection among his team.
"If you're connected then you overcome emotional and maturity issues," Dambrot said. "But if you're phony connected then you're gonna have times where you're good and you're gonna have times where things aren't very good. Ultimately that's on me and my staff. So if we're not connected or playing the right way it's because we put up with things that we shouldn't put up with. That's on me, not them. But it won't ever happen again."
The Dukes have several decisions that loom at the end of the season as each of the team's top scorers in Weathers, Hughes and Tavian Dunn-Martin are all seniors and could be gone next season. The NCAA eligibility waiver does give all players a chance for this season to not count against their eligibility, so they could return next season.
When asked after the game, both Hughes and Weathers said that neither could decide on their future coming so soon after a loss. They'll have to evaluate their futures and whether they would want to play another season, while Dambrot will have to decide whether they're part of his plan for the future of the program.