Jones breaks out when Dukes most need it

Coach Ron Everhart saw it. The fans who witnessed Tuesday night's breakdown against Robert Morris saw it. The Duquesne men's basketball team had somehow forgotten their bread and butter.

The hustle plays and energy that allow a perennially undersized squad to compete with the best of the Atlantic 10 and regional powerhouses Pitt and WVU were missing.

Fortunately for the Dukes, in a career-high 23 minutes, Jerry Jones scored 14 points, grabbed four tough rebounds, and had two steals to help drive the Dukes over the top in their 66-59 win over Penn State.

Perhaps the biggest contribution Jones made was stepping into Sean Johnson's role in the closing minutes. The Dukes' leading scorer struggled with foul trouble for the second straight game, and finished with only 19 minutes, but Jones was on the floor in his place, doing an excellent job. Jones said Everhart's trust to put on the floor in the closing minutes of a close game is big to him.

"Real big confidence man, real big confidence. It's unexplainable really," Jones said. "Me and coach have a real good relationship and hopefully it grows stronger."

Saying his biggest strengths were his defense and intensity, Jones added to those qualities a knack for finding the net against Penn State, hitting a perfect 3-for-3 from the line and a strong 5-for-7 from the field including an early 3-pointer.

Senior guard Eric Evans, who finished with a game-high 20 points, noticed that defensive intensity helped the Dukes get back to their winning ways.

"Normally the way we play, we push, get steals, force turnovers, push the ball in transition and we did that tonight." Evans said.

The Dukes gathered 11 steals with Jones and Evans combining for six. Everhart said the two took extra time together to work out this summer and it's paying off. As for the team, they broke out in the second half with renewed energy, too.

"I thought we got back to playing with the type of energy and effort that we had a little earlier in the year but for whatever reason in the last few games it seemed like we lost," Everhart said.

It's obvious Jones' intensity is bringing back that energy. Before tonight, Jones only had 39 points but had made his presence felt on the boards with 19 rebounds while averaging only 14.3 minutes per game. Against Penn State, Jones did a little bit of everything.

Everhart felt the team started the game slow because they were licking their wounds from Tuesday's loss, but found five guys he said "bought in" to the team that he put on the floor at the biggest moment.

Sure, Johnson's 16.3 points per game will usually translate into being on the floor at the most important points, but tonight Jones made a strong argument that in addition to Johnson, Evans, McConnell, and Talley, Jones has the capacity to be the fifth man.

Andre Marhold has held down the fifth starting position at center all season, but a sub-par two rebound, two point performance in 17 minutes leaves the question: Could Everhart go even smaller and use a mix of 6-foot-5 Monteiro and Jones at the post position? It's not past Everhart to run small, so don't be surprised to see more five-man lineups with those stars on the floor.

Marhold will get his minutes and his starts, but Jones has certainly built an impressive argument that his intensity and rebounding ability make him just as valuable, despite two less inches on his frame.

For now, the Dukes are 6-4, and have battled through the toughest stretch of their non-league schedule. It seems as if Everhart is giving every player a chance to prove his ability and effort on the court with 10 players seeing the floor tonight and all 10 of them finding the bottom of the net at least once.

Jerry Jones has made his case. Who's next?