Duquesne Beats Saint Louis, 79-66
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) — Micah Mason led Duquesne to a 79-66 win over Saint Louis with 20 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
Mason has scored 20 or more points in 3 of the last 5 games and head coach Jim Ferry credits his recent success to playing a more aggressive all around game, rather than relying on his 3-point shooting ability.
"He's taking more shots, he is being more aggressive and he's playing with significantly more confidence, which he should," Ferry said.
Just a little over a month ago, Duquesne lost to Saint Louis on the road 78-69 in a game that, for the most part, came down to poor free throw shooting by the Dukes. On Jan. 14, Duquesne shot only 38.2 percent (13-34) from the stripe. Senior forward Dominique McKoy shot just 1-10 in the game but this time around it was a different story.
Duquesne improved to 16-20 (80 percent) from the line and McKoy shot 6-8 in the Wednesday night matchup at the Polumbo Center. It also just happened to be senior night.
"For that to happen on senior night and have a win and play so well he deserves it, he's a great kid," Ferry said. "We are really excited for him he's done a great job in trying to bring these younger guys a long as well."
Sophomore L.G. Gill is one of the younger guys on the team that Ferry said helps the team win when he is playing well.
It was Gill who hit a buzzer beater 3-pointer to secure a 40-33 lead at halftime for the Dukes against Saint Louis. He finished with 10 points and shot 3-4 from behind the arc.
Jeremiah Jones tied his career high with 16 points and Derrick Colter and Dominique McKoy both scored 12 points.
"We are really starting to play off of each other, which I think is great offensively, and we are playing as a unit defensively much tighter than we've been in the past," Ferry said. "If we can improve that over the next week and a half I feel pretty comfortable going into the Atlantic 10 tournament with this group."
Duquesne plays on the road at St. Bonaventure on Saturday at 4 p.m.