Duquesne red, white and blue streamers fell from the rafters of the Barclays Center with the Dukes leading by 15 in the championship game of the Atlantic 10 tournament, their first NCAA tournament bid in 47 years.
The problem was that there were still about 18 minutes left to play.
Jimmy Clark III, Dae Dae Grant, coach Keith Dambrot and Duquesne finally got the full postgame celebration, with a few less streamers, beating fifth-seeded VCU 57-51 on Sunday to earn its first invitation to March Madness since 1977.
Duquesne is seeded 11th in the NCAA tournament and will face sixth-ranked BYU on Thursday in the first round in Omaha, Nebraska.
For the sixth-seeded Dukes (24-11), who began the conference season on a five-game losing streak, the hard way is the only way they know.
“This isn't a situation we haven't been in before, so we knew exactly what to do,” said Clark, who scored nine points and made four free throws in the final 21 seconds remaining to help seal the title.
The Dukes led by 14 at the half, but bringing home that long-awaited NCAA bid was a struggle. Duquesne scored just 21 points and was 5 of 29 from the field in the second half, but the small Catholic school from Pittsburgh will enter the Big Dance on an eight-game winning streak.
“We've won all year on the defensive end,” Dambrot said. “We've had some monstrosities on offense.”
Dambrot, 65, who coached LeBron James for two years in high school, and the Dukes tied a winning record set in 1953-54, when Dambrot's father, Sid, played for Duquesne.
“YESRRRR!! Hit that [ticket] “To the big dance @DuqMBB!!!”, James posted on X.
The last time Duquesne won the A-10 and went to the NCAA Tournament, future NBA All-Star Norm Nixon was leading the Dukes, who beat Villanova in the conference title game.
Dambrot left the University of Akron in 2017, where he led the Zips to the NCAA tournament three times in 13 years, to take over a Duquesne program that was close to his heart but didn't have much of a track record of success.
“I knew it was going to be difficult, especially when we're relying on so little tradition,” Dambrot said.
Joe Bamisile led VCU (22-13), which was trying to repeat as A-10 tournament champion, with 20 points.
“Two teams competing for a championship, it doesn't look pretty,” Bamisile said. “It was an ugly game for both sides.”
After Clark's free throws with 21 seconds left to make it a five-point game, Fousseyni Drame scored two to put the Dukes up 55-48.
A long 3-pointer by Zeb Jackson with 9.9 left gave VCU a glimmer of hope. The Rams fouled Jakub Necas as the Dukes struggled to get the ball in, but he missed both shots.
Clark made two more from the line with 1.9 left, and finally the Duquesne fans could truly celebrate.
Grant led the Dukes with 10 points, all in the first half, and was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
The Dukes were up by 15 early in the second half and the ball was in play when play had to be stopped due to falling streamers. Most landed on the press row field (CBS play-by-play man Kevin Harlan had to do some things himself and his teammate Dan Bonner), and some made it onto the field. The game was delayed about three minutes for cleaning.
A-10 officials said the streamers and confetti used for the postgame celebration are red, white and blue no matter which team wins, to match the conference logo. A technical problem caused them to fall too soon, they said.
Perhaps the premature celebration tempted fate, because the Dukes went the next seven minutes without scoring. They started the second half shooting 1 of 15 from the field.
Dambrot, who admitted he is a superstitious former baseball player, said he was unfazed by the potential hex.
“I felt more relaxed than ever,” Dambrot said. “I just tried to enjoy it for the first time in my life.”
It's been a challenging season off the court for Dambrot, whose wife, Donna, has been battling breast cancer.
Keith Dambrot said the four tournament games at Barclays were the first Donna attended all season.
Duquesne finally found some offense to hold off the Rams, and Necas hit a 3-pointer from the wing with 4:35 left to push the lead to 49-41.
The Rams made one more effort.
Jackson hit a 3-pointer for the Rams with 2:12 left to cut Duquesne's lead to 49-46 and after forcing a turnover, Bamisile made two free throws to cut the lead to one with 1:34 left. That was as close as VCU could get.
“It's crazy to be able to come here and make history,” Clark said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
