“He made some big plays and he’s been in a lot of big games in his career,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said. “He’s had a relatively rough go of it for him.  I’m just proud of him for hanging in there and fought through the adversity. He shouldn’t be able to do what he does at his size, but he does. When he plays well, we have a chance to beat most people.”

Dunn-Martin drove the lane and lofted a high-arcing layup attempt over Richmond’s Grant Golden which hit off the glass and fell into the basket giving Duquesne a four-point lead.

“I give our guys credit and I told them during one of the timeouts not to let the offense get into the defense,” said Dambrot. “As poorly as we played, we still had a chance to live. We just had to get our heads out of the clouds.”

Chad Baker led Duquesne with his 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Marcus Weathers and Michael Hughes each recorded a double-double. Weathers had 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Hughes concluded play with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Dunn-Martin added 11 points.

This was Duquesne’s first victory over a higher-seeded opponent in the Atlantic 10 Championships since 2009. 

Richmond played Thursday without Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Second Team selection Blake Francis and had Grant Golden compete with a fractured left-middle finger.

Tyler Burton led all scorers with his 18 points, 13 of which were made in the first half. Burton also grabbed 11 rebounds. Jacob Gilyard added 12 points and Golden had 10 points.

“I give a lot of credit to Duquesne, I thought they played a very good game and were aggressive defensively,” Richmond coach Chris Mooney said.  “They’re always physical. I thought we really battled, rebounded the ball. We uncharacteristically had high turnovers and shot a low percentage. I thought we played hard, I wish we played better. We left everything out there.”

Early on, both teams played with a quick pace, though Richmond created some separation with a 10-0 run as Burton showed his range from the 3-point line and from inside. 

Richmond’s defense also held Duquesne without a basket for 3:57 as part of an 18-3 scoring run. The run transpired over 10:22 of game action as the Dukes were unable to find consistently coming out of the contest’s first media timeout.

Duquesne began to get back into the contest on a successful pullup jumper from freshman guard Toby Okani.

The Dukes were able to adjust their defense towards more of a press and Richmond’s flowing offense began to sputter. The Spiders were held without a field goal for a 3:36 stretch.

With Duquesne cutting Richmond’s advantage to six points, it was Burton again delivering with a jumper as Baker was called for a foul, a sequence which placed the Spiders back in front by nine points.

Undeterred, Duquesne continued what ultimately became a 14-4 run, which concluded with Weathers grabbing a rebound and running the length of the floor for a layup. All of a sudden, the contest became a four-point affair.

Richmond was able to regroup scoring six of the half’s final nine points and took a seven-point lead into halftime.

Duquesne converted five of the opening seven points in the second half, again trailing by four points, but Richmond again offered a response.

This time, an offensive rebound from Matt Grace led to a three-point make from Isaiah Wilson. On Duquesne’s next possession down, Weathers attempted a spin move, but Gilyard earned a steal and in transition, following another offensive board, Souleymane Koureissi received a dish from Wilson he converted.

After Duquesne called a timeout, it committed another turnover with Golden maneuvering around a Dukes defender for a layup. All of a sudden, Richmond was back in front by 11 points. 

It was up to Duquesne to recover and its reply was a 7-0 run concluding with Amari Kelly converting a hook shot.

Richmond make quick work of making up for its lapse, scoring six of the next eight points and going back up by eight points, but again Duquesne refused to fold.

Instead, Duquesne would score the game’s next seven points including a step-back three-pointer from Dunn-Martin which brought the two teams a point apart.

Richmond decided to bench Golden and during that stretch, it was Hughes converting an and-one play which gave Duquesne its first advantage since taking a 10-9 lead less than five minutes into the first half.

Richmond again tied it by splitting free throws, but then it was Baker making a layup, dribbling behind his back in transition after recording a steal. 

Following the timeout, Duquesne benefitted from a fortuitus bounce off a pass which deflected inbounds off an official. Baker again stole the ball, this time converting a dunk which placed the Dukes up by four points.

Down the stretch, Richmond made its free throws and Duquesne missed the front end of a one-in-one which resulted in a tie game.

Baker responded by making a jumper to put the Dukes back in control. When Hughes blocked Richmond’s Nathan Cayo, it was Dunn-Martin’s layup which brought the game back to two possessions.

Golden then committed a turnover coming out of the timeout and Dunn-Martin made another two free throws. Richmond had an opportunity to respond, instead Wilson missed three consecutive free throws.

Richmond was hindered by a 9:26 streak of not making a field goal, which was not snapped until two seconds remained in regulation, securing Duquesne’s victory.

“We really locked in on the last three weeks of being able to take people out of what they’re good at,” Duquesne’s Michael Hughes said. “We’re a defensive-minded team. It shows each and every game that when our intensity is there, teams are frazzled by the way we play defense. That kept them off their rhythm a little bit.”

Duquesne will play top-seeded St. Bonaventure in Friday’s first Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinal matchup. The contest will be televised at 11 a.m. on NBCSN and be played at VCU’s Siegel Center.