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dukes history

TAKE A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Click on the photo below to visit the Duquesne Men’s Basketball Timeline. View one fact per season for each of the Dukes’ first 104
years:

MEMORABLE MOMENT

norm’s night
Feb. 19, 1977

The University of Detroit, coached by Dick Vitale and led by standouts
John Long, Terry Deurod and Terry Tyler, came into the Civic Arena
with a 21-game win streak and No. 15 (AP) national rank. Duquesne,
which entered the game with an 11-12 record, was a heavy underdog
to the 21-1 Titans on what was being celebrated as Norm Nixon Night.
Forty minutes and two overtimes later, Detroit found itself on the short
end of a 95-88 score. Nixon was marvelous for the Dukes, scoring 29
points and handing out eight assists - with just one turnover - before
leaving the game for the first time to a rousing ovation with 10 seconds
left. The 6-1 guard set the tone for the win with a dunk just under two
minutes into the second half. According to a news report: “With both
teams coming out at a furious clip and the score see-sawing in a close
nail-biter, Norm tipped a pass loose and burst in for a layup with a
whole half court vacant before him. No fingertip layin here. With his
parents up from Macon, Ga. to watch their gifted son, Norm started
his takeoff just past the foul line, effortlessly revolved 180 degrees as
he floated to the hoop, extended his arms full and reverse slam dunked
the ball with his face to the opposite hoop and the rest of the players.
As he hung on the rim for a moment, it froze the electricity of his play
and then the arena burst with applause.” The Dukes, unaffected by the
ensuing technical foul, rode the emotion to the win. Vitale was so upset
following the loss that he ordered his players onto the team bus, with-
out the benefit of a post-game shower.

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