Duquesne stuns No. 24 Dayton in A-10 tournament
Jimmie Clark III scored 16 points and Duquesne held off star big man DaRon Holmes II and No. 24 Dayton 65-57 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Holmes scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half, but the Flyers (24-7), who came in with a NET ranking of 21, struggled from the field and now will have to rely on an at-large bid to make the NCAA Tournament.
No other team in the A-10 is in the top 70, but the league only got one bid last season for the first time since 2005. This year, all four top seeds lost in the tournament quarterfinals, leaving No. 5 seed VCU as the highest-seeded team remaining.
Seeking their first appearance in March Madness since 1977, the Dukes (22-11) advanced to the semifinals of the conference tourney for the first time since 2009. Duquesne will face seventh-seeded St. Bonaventure Saturday after the Bonnies beat No. 2 seed Loyola Chicago in double overtime. Top seed Richmond was beaten by Saint Joseph's.
Holmes had 13 rebounds, shot 5 of 13 and hit a career-high 13 free throws, but the Flyers shot 32% percent overall and missed 19 of 26 3-point tries.