It was an incredibly rough start to the season for Duquesne Basketball, going 0-6 and losing to the likes of Milwaukee, Saint Peter’s, and even Maine. To the team’s credit, they’ve bounced back, beating Towson and UC Irvine in the past couple of weeks, as well as NAIA opponent Cleary to enter A-10 play on a three-game win streak.
There are plenty of reasons for the Dukes' recent winning surge. Since opening night, there have been a ton of changes to the starting lineup and overall rotation, including before the Towson game. Cameron Crawford had gotten his first start of the season there and scored 13 points to lead them to the breakthrough win.
The transfer guard from Marshall continued his good play against UC Irvine, scoring 13 points on 3/4 shooting from deep. On Friday, against Cleary, he was the first Duke to reach double figures, scoring 12 points in 23 minutes. On the season, Duquesne Basketball is 4-0 when he scores 10+ points, including 10 in the previous win over Delaware.
And that’s the half. https://t.co/PcoQwqPcyU pic.twitter.com/c6K3LQentI
— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) December 14, 2024
Crawford started out with a small role with the Dukes, playing fewer than 10 mpg in the first set of games, including a few DNP-CDs. The team’s offense struggled badly while also giving up a lot of three-pointers. His 6’5 frame and shooting ability (38%) have been a needed boost to the rotation, and these days, he’s getting around 30 mpg as a key starter.
With Jake DiMichele out with a foot injury and GW transfer Maximus Edwards underachieving to this point, Crawford’s emergence into a key piece has been huge for the Dukes being competitive again. They’ll need him for their next game against Rhode Island, one of the top early surprises of the Atlantic 10 and has multiple key guards, led by Sebastian Thomas.
If Crawford can continue his great play, Duquesne will be able to match the Rams on the perimeter and have a good shot at winning the league opener.