Men's basketball stumbles against Duquesne in Atlantic 1 opener

Photo courtesy of gorhody.com

In the spirit of new beginnings, the Rhode Island men’s basketball team will hope to leave their final performance of 2024 in the past, as the Rams fell to Duquesne 67-55 in their Atlantic 10 opener on Tuesday.

The Rams have yet to win a true road contest this season, with their only other loss this year coming on Dec. 10 at Brown, 84-80 in double-overtime. Like its other road loss, Rhode Island was plagued by offensive inefficiency, resulting in a messy afternoon in the Steel City.

Both of Rhode Island’s losses this season coincide with its worst shooting percentages from the field, as the Rams shot 37% against Duquesne and 36.7% against Duquesne. Rhody is undefeated this season when it shoots at least 39% from the floor.

Starting off in a back and forth tussle, the Rams and Dukes sensed each other out to an 11-11 tie with 13:08 left in the first half. However, when junior forward Matúš Hronsky sunk a left wing layup to take the lead just under a minute later, Duquesne gained the lead – holding onto it until the final buzzer.

Rhode Island proceeded to watch the scoreboard escape from itself, never able to fully claw back. While there were times like the first two minutes of the second half, when senior forward David Green hit a three to cut the lead to just three points, the game was never tied up the rest of the way out.

In terms of its offense, Rhode Island was led by another double-digit performance from senior guard Sebastian Thomas, who put up 20 points. However, no other Rams were able to match that production, as the next highest scorer was Green with seven points.

The contest marked the first time the Rams had just one player scoring in double-figures since Mar. 6, 2024 in a 69-51 loss to George Mason at the Ryan Center. The loss to Duquesne was the lowest team offensive tally since that result, stressing a connection with having multiple producers on the scoring side of the ball.

Rhode Island has now lost its A-10 opener in five of the last six years, with the only victory coming last season from the mid-season spark from Green entering the roster late due to NCAA transfer rules. 

Starting off conference play with a loss is never a good thing. However, the loss to Duquesne is not as catastrophic as it looks on paper. The Dukes, who entered the contest 5-8, started their season 2-8, marking the defending conference champions as one of the worst teams in the conference. 

However, after winning their last three games, defeating a pair of division one teams by over 10 points and a NAIA team by almost 50, it is clear that Duquesne is heading in the right direction.

A downward slide from this loss would be certainly a worst case scenario for Rhody. It has plagued them in years past and seen seasons slip away. However, a win against George Mason next time out can help to alleviate these concerns.

The Rams and the Patriots tip-off on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Rhode Island’s conference home opener. The game can be streamed on the USA Network with radio broadcasts available on WRIU 90.3 FM and the Varsity Network.