Grant leads Duquesne past St. Bonaventure 70-60 for spot in Atlantic 10 title game
NEW YORK (AP) — Dae Dae Grant sank six 3-pointers and scored 27 to guide Duquesne to a 70-60 victory over St. Bonaventure in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference on Saturday at the Barclays Center.
The sixth-seeded Dukes (23-11) will take a seven-game win streak into Sunday's title game against defending tournament champion VCU (22-12), the No. 4 seed.
Duquesne is aiming for its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1977 and its sixth overall. That was the first season for the Atlantic 10 and the Dukes beat Villanova 57-54 in the championship game to earn the automatic bid. They lost to Pittsburgh in the 1981 title game 64-60 and fell to Temple 69-64 for the 2009 title.
Grant missed just five of 15 shots — three from 3-point range — for the Dukes, who beat the No. 7 seed Bonnies (20-13) for a third time this season. Jimmy Clark III filled the stat sheet with 18 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. Freshman Jake DiMichele totaled 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting with two 3-pointers.
Daryl Banks III had 14 points off the bench to lead St. Bonaventure. Assa Essamvous scored 10.
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