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Sunday, January 19, 2003

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Duquesne is making an art of orchestrating valiant comebacks. If they can some day figure out a way to finish off a game, the Dukes will have themselves a masterpiece.

As it is, all they have to show for themselves is another heartbreaking defeat.

The Dukes spotted Richmond an 18-point lead, came all the way back and took a brief lead, then watched the Spiders execute flawlessly in the waning minutes for a 75-69 victory before 4,767 at the Palumbo Center.

Last week in a 77-72 loss at Dayton, the Dukes trailed by 20, then took a lead with 61 seconds left before the Flyers bounced back in the end.

"We want to get rid of this pattern, finish one off and get a win," junior guard Jimmy Tricco said. "If we take care of the ball and don't make mistakes at the end, we have a great chance to win."

The Dukes (7-10, 1-3 Atlantic 10) self-destructed after taking a 62-59 lead with 6:34 remaining. They missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities and turned the ball over three times in the final minutes, allowing the Spiders to retake the lead.

The hero for Richmond (9-6, 3-1) was senior guard Jeff Myers, who scored 11 of his 18 points in the final 4:30. He started the Spiders back by knocking down a jumper from the free-throw line with 4:30 left after Tony Dobbins stole the ball from Tricco. Then, he nailed three consecutive 3-pointers, the final one off-balance and falling away on one leg, which gave his team a 70-65 lead with 2:07 left.

"With 3:30 on the clock, I told them no one else is shooting other than Jeff unless his shot opens up something for someone else," Richmond Coach Jerry Wainright said. "We really tried to get him some looks. If I was going to go down, I was going to go down with him shooting it."

Myers' hot streak came after the Spiders missed 14 of their first 18 shots from the field to open the second half. The Dukes had taken the lead after a 25-6 run. They held Richmond scoreless for 7:28 in one stretch while scoring 16 points.

Even with Myers' late heroics, the Dukes had the ball and a chance to tie the score with less than a minute remaining. Ahead, 72-69, Richmond came out with an extended zone defense, pressuring the ball high. Ron Dokes' pass was deflected, Kevin Forney could not handle it, and the ball dribbled out of bounds with 26 seconds remaining.

"We had them in a rotation," Forney said. "Ron faked [a pass], then drove it. I just took my eye off the ball."

"I thought our kids played hard and competed," Dukes Coach Danny Nee said. "We just don't have the ability to finish it off."

Forney's mishap at the end was one of the few things he did wrong. He scored seven of his game-high 19 points in the final 2:34 to keep the Dukes close. He was 6 for 7 from the field, the only miss coming in desperation as the clock wound down. He had four assists and three turnovers.

"I don't think we can ask anything more of him," Nee said. "At times, he was the best player on the floor out there. He played at a very high level."

The Dukes didn't play at a very high level in the first half. Richmond came out and made 8 of their first 11 3-point attempts while the Dukes fumbled and stumbled their way to 14 first-half turnovers. Richmond led, 45-27, with 3:42 left in the first half before the Dukes cut the lead to 11 with an 8-2 run to end the half.

"We can't dig ourselves a hole like we did the last two games," Tricco said. "Richmond came out with a lot of energy, and I don't think we matched that. We have to come out ready to go every game."

Nee was steamed about his team's 21 turnovers. He thought he had his mistake-prone team coming around after committing a total of just 25 turnovers the past two games against Temple and Dayton. Freshman point guard Bryant McAllister had a team-high six yesterday.

"The turnovers are our biggest problem," he said. "And some of them are asinine. Some of them are careless. Those careless ones are the one we have to eliminate."

NOTES -- Radio broadcaster Ray Goss announced his 1000th game yesterday. Goss is in his 35th season with the Dukes. ... Duquesne unveiled its new mascot. A menacing Duke with a top hat and cane replaces the bear that had been around for the better part of a decade. ... McAllister (12), Elijah Palmer (12) and Dokes (10) also scored in double figures. ... Richmond made a season-high 12 3-point baskets.