Home >  Sports >  Duquesne U.

Sunday, January 26, 2003

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

St. Bonaventure is a team that lives and dies by the 3-point basket. The Bonnies lead the Atlantic 10 Conference in 3-point baskets per game and are second in the league in 3-point shooting percentage.

So when St. Bonaventure took a three-point lead into halftime last night against Duquesne after making two shots from beyond the arc, it wasn't a good sign for the Dukes. The Bonnies put on a long-range shooting exhibition in the second half and beat the Dukes, 86-78, before 5,454 at the Palumbo Center.

	More Dukes Coverage: ...a word from our columnist Bob Smizik: There's no end to Dukes' woe

The Bonnies (9-9, 4-2) made 10 of 15 3-point attempts in the second half, including four from sophomore forward Mike Gansey, who finished with 20 points. At one point in the second half, the Bonnies made five consecutive 3-pointers in a five-minute span.

"That's some of the best shooting I've seen in a long time," Duquesne junior guard Jimmy Tricco said.

Dukes Coach Danny Nee's game plan was to make someone other than Bonnies point guard Marques Green beat his team. Green came into the game leading the Atlantic 10 in points with 21.2 per game. The Dukes (7-12, 1-5) held him scoreless for the first 13-plus minutes and to 17 points at game's end with a variety of defenses, including a box-and-one for long periods of time in the second half.

But that created open shots for Gansey, Patricio Prato and Joe Shepherd, who made the Dukes pay with their accuracy.

"I knew the 3s were going to be like scud missiles coming out [at halftime]," Nee said. "When I saw our percentages and their percentages, and I was down three, I was like, 'Man, we have a pretty good line. I don't know if we can play much better.' Then I look at their line. Two for seven. I know that's going up. That's why I went to the box-and-one."

Green had seen box-and-one defenses on an occasion but not as much as he did against the Dukes last night. He was 5 for 13 from the field, but offset his poor shooting night with nine assists with his dribble penetration and passes to the wings.

"If someone wants to take Marques out of the game, we have good shooters," St. Bonaventure Coach Jan van Breda Kolff said. "Marques doesn't care if he scores. Somebody will get an open shot if we showed patience, and we were able to do that."

Nee wanted his team to get off to a better start, so he changed up his lineup, moving senior guard Brad Midgley into the starting lineup in place of sophomore forward Simplice Njoya. The switch sparked the Dukes early and created just what Nee wanted when the Dukes raced to an early 24-12 lead seven minutes into the contest.

But the Bonnies were able to chip away at the lead and eventually went ahead with a 19-8 run in the final 7:23 of the half. The Dukes, who made 8 of their first 12 shots from the field, had just one field goal in the final 6:26 of the first half, and the Bonnies led, 45-42.

The Dukes were able to stay close for a while in the second half, but consecutive 3-pointers by Prato, Maurice Young and Gansey in a little more than two minutes gave the Bonnies a 62-52 lead with 12:39 remaining. For all intents and purposes, that was the end for the Dukes, who were not able to get the lead below eight the rest of the way.

"Today was a tough loss," Nee said. "I thought we did a lot of things right, how we started the game, how we were going to guard Green. I was really impressed with how [St. Bonaventure] played. I think our team played hard and followed our game plan, but I just think St. Bonaventure played better, especially in the second half."

Kevin Forney led the Dukes with 21 points. He was 7 for 11 from the field. Tricco was 5 for 11 from 3-point range and finished with 17.

NOTES -- The Dukes outrebounded an opponent for just the sixth time this season, 39- 26. ... The Dukes had 17 assists and 16 turnovers. ... Green scored his 1,000th career point. ... van Breda Kolff recorded his 200th career victory. ... The Dukes next play at Richmond Tuesday.