I remember. I was more happy for Norm Nixon than anything else. I realized the team got lucky when Keith Herron sprained his ankle and couldn't go in the league championship game, but I was happy that Norm was finally going to get to play in the tournament.
I also remember the early 70s teams, which was the last time we had teams that could really run with the big dogs. 45 years later, we're still waiting.

kneeguy wrote:

Indeed I recall that visit to The Tournament.
​I graduated in '74 and was a freshmen for the team that went to the '71 tourney after beating the likes of Notre Dame, Villanova and Creighton. It always seemed then the Dukes were just a bit away from a return to that form. It didn't realize the slide had begun.
​Come on, Ken and Dave, bring it back.

I really thought we were back in the fall of 1979. We won our first 7 games. We went to Philly and handled a very good Villanova team without Bruce Atkins, who was ejected after getting into a scuffle with John Pinone. We were getting votes for the Top 20, and had a feature story in Eastern Basketball. Then we did our annual swoon down the stretch. The team was loaded, and I haven't felt that way about a Dukes team since.
 

I went to almost every home game that year, as in prior years. A pre season basketball magazine, Street and Smith I think,  reviewed those Dukes in pre season summary, " This team will go as far as Norman Nixon can finess them" how true, but Don Maser got hot at the end of the season and he along with forward Donnie " Gumby" Gamebridge pulled out the conference championship and got into the NCAA drawing the VMI Keydets lead by Perry High's Ron Carter who along with Norman was a number one draft pick by the NBA Lakers after that season, along with Mikey Davis little brother, Brad of Maryland and Lefty Drissell. Slick became the starter of the trio and a star in the NBA.

I was disappointed by the loss, I thought we could win, and had no idea that it would be the last NCAA I would see the Dukes in. I was 29 at the time, and already a die hard fan....

ElDuque wrote:

duq81 wrote:

kneeguy wrote:

Indeed I recall that visit to The Tournament.
​I graduated in '74 and was a freshmen for the team that went to the '71 tourney after beating the likes of Notre Dame, Villanova and Creighton. It always seemed then the Dukes were just a bit away from a return to that form. It didn't realize the slide had begun.
​Come on, Ken and Dave, bring it back.

I really thought we were back in the fall of 1979. We won our first 7 games. We went to Philly and handled a very good Villanova team without Bruce Atkins, who was ejected after getting into a scuffle with John Pinone. We were getting votes for the Top 20, and had a feature story in Eastern Basketball. Then we did our annual swoon down the stretch. The team was loaded, and I haven't felt that way about a Dukes team since.
 

The '80-81 team had a shot by virtue of playing Pitt in the EAA championship game. I watched that in a bar -- the first Duquesne game I remember being on TV since the early 1970s.

The 80-81 team was one of my favorites. It overachieved, but I never thought it had a chance to be elite, especially with two of it's key players being seniors. I thought the 79 team might be like the 69 team, the start of a run as an elite team.
 

I was just a couple years graduated at the time. Recollections of the actual game are gone.  I would have seared the game into my my mind if there was any way of knowing the program might never be back in my lifetime. 

I remember it well, and travelled to the game via a rented Winnebago with several other insane recent Duquesne grads.  It was a memorable trip, despite the loss.
Sad that it was the last hurrah for a once very successful program.

So far 11 of us. Our fraternity is shrinking faster than the universe of WWII vets.

Thanks 81, was my memory correct about Charlie Scott?  I think the officials called goal tending on one of the Nelsons. Scott had missed the lay up and no one had either touched the rim or hit the back board.
They also played a game against St.John's I believe that was a regional consolidation game that gave them a 3rd place finish in the region when they won the game. It was prelim to the championship game of the East Region.

Last edited by The Dome (1/13/2017 3:51 pm)

That game was a heart breaker but the real  disapointment was the70-71 year when we had one of the tallest starting lineups in the country G Nelson, B Nelson 6-10, Davis 6-7, Durham 6-5 , Mike Barr 6-3 . ( this was when some forwards were 6-3 and center were 6-6 on many teams.

We were slated to play UCLA but Pitt upset us in first game of the Steel Bowl, then we were highly rated all year, even won all 3 on a brutal Western Road trip by beating All -America Cyirl Baptiest and Creighton, then San Francisco and also Santa Clara ( I think).

The upset to Penn and then Mickey Davis quitting school and losing three of Reds great recruits in the Billingy class after the freshman year, and the fall was in free form....

The Dome wrote:

Thanks 81, was my memory correct about Charlie Scott?  I think the officials called goal tending on one of the Nelsons. Scott had missed the lay up and no one had either touched the rim or hit the back board.
They also played a game against St.John's I believe that was a regional consolidation game that gave them a 3rd place finish in the region when they won the game. It was prelim to the championship game of the East Region.

Dome, Charlie Scott hit a contested 20 foot jump shot with 2 seconds left to beat the Dukes. No controversy on the game winner, just broken hearts.

The following is rated PG.  Children under the age of 65 should not partake.
 
I was at all the games mentioned above: New York, a blast; Morgantown, a bitter disappointment, but we did manage to sneak in a record amount of beer (So testified by WVU Security); and VMI was a blur.
 
Duquesne VS. VMI in the NCAAs; how cool was that?  So cool that the greater assembly of Reges were going.  Going in a Winnebago we rented with nickels and dimes.  On it, we loaded beer, liquor, a massive cache of drugs (Courtesy of our Pharmacy School members), a half pound of lousy Mexican herb, and young women from the Wilma Boyd Academy.  Hell, old Wilma herself might have been aboard, such was our muddled celebratory state.  The trip to North Carolina State was most memorable.  Yet, to report it in graphic detail would change our PG rating to XXX.  Suffice it to say, the trip would have made Hunter S. Thompson blush. 
 
Miraculously our mighty Winnebago - and mightily trashed - delivered us to our hotel.  After a bit of sleep, we set off for the game.  Countless acquaintances, also at the hotel, came along, jamming the vehicle to the gills; so much so that the motor home practically road on its rims.  The late great Darnell Roebuck was amongst the throng.  One look around and Darnell knew he had gotten on the right conveyance.  Our pregame parking lot extravaganza brought yet more to our gathering, including VMI cadets who knew a good thing when they saw it.  Ranking officers bedecked in gold braid happened by.  The VMI Cadets immediately snapped to attention, which inspired one of our own, the inimitable Smacko.  He hailed the passing officers with, "Hey Colonel, I eat your chicken!"  And that was the last we saw of our   cadet friends.
 
As to the game, I will say this much, Duquesne was, by far, the better team.  But it was practically a home game for nearby VMI and things went badly.  Badly in the form of the refereeing.  We got hosed; hosed as bad as any hosing I'd seen; Cliff Fair was Pope Paul compared to these two mooks. Now I must admit that I had been drinking.  Still, I knew a cheating when I saw one.  The VMI crowd was thrilled by the outcome; I was not.  To that end I adjourned to the tunnel to vent on the refs.  Among the players came the jagoffs.  I upbraided the nearest, who turned out to be the renowned NFL official, Ben "He's givin him the business" Drieth.  Ben upbraided me right back.  So I slugged him.  Or was it a push?  Anyway calls went out for the cops.  At that dire moment, Norman Nixon, a close friend, gave me the best advice I've ever gotten in my life.  He called me by my last name and said"...RUN!"  So run I did, back into the stands, where my savvy cohorts disguised me with a coat and hat.  In the end, I skated.
 
I take no pride in relating this; and offer my sincere apology to Ben Drieth, you cheating bastard.  We drove home   in the gloomy Winnebago.  The Wilma Boyd contingent wisely found other transportation. "We'll get them next year" was our firm belief.  Not of the Boyds, but of Duquesne’s powerhouse basketball program.  Regrettably, next year has turned into forty years...and counting.  But don't blame me.