After trailing by 13 at halftime, men’s basketball (13-4, 2-2 Atlantic 10) climbed back to a 1-point deficit with five minutes left, but ultimately fell to Duquesne (8-9, 3-1 A-10) 73-65.
The reigning Atlantic 10 champion ended the first half on a 32-15 scoring run, creating a 13-point halftime deficit that proved too large to overcome. By late in the second half, the Revs managed to bring the game to within one score but were not able to return to the lead.
“We let it get away from us a little bit in the first half,” Head Coach Chris Caputo said. “Came back, as we have almost every game we’ve played, and cut it to one, but just couldn’t hang on to make a key free throw, a key layup.”
Duquesne junior guard Maximus Edwards led his team with 22 points in just 17 minutes, including 16 in the first half, in his first game in the Charles E. Smith Center after transferring last spring. He left the Revolutionaries after two years donning the Buff and Blue, averaging double-digit scoring in each. Junior forward Rafael Castro led the game in scoring, dropping 27 points for a new career high.
“I just feel like my team has been making the right plays and feeding me and I’m just taking advantage of that, getting to my spot when I could,” Castro said postgame.
Eight minutes into the game, GW built a 14-10 lead following two free throws by sophomore forward Darren Buchanan Jr. Buchanan returned to the lineup after missing the team’s past two games- wins against Dayton and Rhode Island- with an ankle injury. He played 24 minutes off the bench and scored 7 points, all of which came from the free-throw line.
After a GW timeout with 11:40 remaining in the half, Edwards entered the game and immediately made his presence felt, bringing efficient scoring to help his team take the lead. He connected on a 3-pointer before immediately stealing the ball from graduate student forward Sean Hansen and scored an and-1 to bring his team to a 19-14 lead.
The Dukes continued to extend their lead throughout the rest of the first half before Edwards punctuated the period with a three-pointer to give his team a 42-29 lead entering the break. Edwards had 16 points in the first half off 6/6 shooting from the field. Entering this game, his season high was 14, which he achieved in the team’s season opener against Lipscomb University.
“We didn’t do a great job guarding him,” Caputo said. “And Max really got going a bit in transition, made a couple of shots. And we know, obviously, he’s capable. I think everybody is happy Max had some success. Certainly not against us, but everybody is rooting for Max.”

After continuing to trail throughout the second half, a three-pointer by sophomore guard Trey Autry with just over eight minutes left helped to kickstart a 13-2 run which cut the deficit to just 1 point with eight minutes left. With the opportunity to take the lead, Buchanan missed a shot and Duquesne responded with 5 straight points to bring their lead back up to 6, 67-61.
With 1:14 left in the game, Duquesne committed a goaltending violation on a Jacoi Hutchinson layup attempt. However, after a replay review, the call was overturned and GW failed to take advantage of the possession, with Autry turning the ball over. Down three points with under 50 seconds left, GW began fouling the Dukes, who were able to protect their lead at the line.
Caputo said back-and-forth games are to be expected based on the level of play in the A-10.
“For us, I think if you’re playing at your very best, the games are very, very close.”
The team travels to Fairfax, Virginia to take on George Mason (13-5, 4-1 A-10) for their next game on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
