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Sunday, February 09, 2003

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Just call them the Thomas Edisons of college basketball. The Duquesne Dukes keep inventing ways to lose.

	Elijah Palmer of Duquesne knocks the ball away from La Salle's Matt Thornton. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

Their 82-74 loss to La Salle yesterday was unlike any other this season. They didn't use their usual method of falling behind, battling back and then making the score close. Nor did they lose the game in the closing moments.

This time the Dukes (7-19, 1-9 Atlantic 10) blew a 10-point lead with less than 15 minutes remaining and watched a team with four freshman starters pick up their first conference road victory before 4,068 at the Palumbo Center. It is their eighth loss in a row.

"Frustrated and embarrassed," junior guard Jimmy Tricco said after the game, summing up the mood of the team. "We had a good lead in the second half, and we just couldn't hold onto it."

The most troubling aspect of the game was the effort the Dukes put forth after an inspired performance in a 76-75 loss Wednesday to co-West Division leader Dayton. Yesterday, the Dukes were outhustled for most every loose ball on their home floor and were outrebounded, 43-26. La Salle, second-to-last in the conference in offensive rebounds, had 14 for 15 second-chance points.

"Everybody is really down right now," senior guard Brad Midgley said. "It's kind of frustrating to play so well against a team like Dayton that's in the top 30 in the country and then play a game like this. You come into a game like this thinking you're going to have a chance to win. I don't think the effort was there."

The Dukes could not contain La Salle's fabulous freshmen. Coach Billy Hahn started four freshmen and at one point had five on the floor at the same time. Four of them scored in double figures, with forwards David Bell (20 points), Steven Smith (19) and guard Gary Neal (19) leading the way.

La Salle's young frontcourt had its way with the more experienced Duquesne front line. La Salle's inside players scored 47 points and grabbed 28 rebounds. Duquesne's starting front line of Ron Dokes, Simplice Njoya and Elijah Palmer totaled 23 points and 16 rebounds.

Dokes is 2 for 16 from the field in the past two games.

"I don't think Ron Dokes or Simplice are playing well," Coach Danny Nee said, trying to pinpoint a reason for rebound margin. "It's obvious if you look at the statistics. They're not playing as well as they're capable of playing. They didn't play well, and it took away our chances of winning. We have to get some scoring in the low post and get to the free-throw line."

Hahn said the game plan was to pound the Dukes inside.

"That was one of our objectives coming in," said Hahn, whose team improved to 10-10, 4-5 in conference play. "We really wanted to get on the inside and get second shots. That was a priority for us. Forty-three to 26 is a pretty good margin for us. We haven't been a real good rebounding team."

The Dukes led, 50-40, with 14:39 remaining but blew that in less than three minutes as the Explorers scored 42 points in the final 14-plus minutes.

La Salle made 13 of 28 shots from the field in the second half, many of them layups, and 15 of 19 free throws to sink the Dukes, who continue to struggle on defense.

When he was asked if his team knew how to play with a lead, Nee responded: "This team doesn't know how to play, period. This team can't play consistent. ... You can make a million excuses. We're just not playing well enough to win. We haven't found the chemistry to get five, six, seven guys to play well at the same time. That's our problem."

Tricco, after not scoring against Dayton, had a career-high 23 points and tied a school record with seven 3-pointers, but it wasn't close to being enough to avoid an eighth consecutive loss in Atlantic 10 play, the fifth consecutive season this downtrodden program has found a way to do that.

NOTES -- Kevin Forney scored 11 points and is four points shy of 1,000 for his career. ... Midgley had 12 points and a career-high four blocks. ... Freshman point guard Bryant McAllister had a career-high 5 steals, 5 assists and 4 turnovers.