What’s better than winning your conference tournament as the number six seed and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977?

How about knocking off the sixth seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament?

That became Duquesne’s reality on Thursday afternoon, thanks to a 71-67 victory over BYU in a six vs. 11 matchup at CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Dukes jumped out to a 9-0 lead before the Cougars roared back and claimed a 20-19 advantage. Duquesne again took over and used a 13-1 run to open up a 33-21 lead late in the first half before heading to the locker room ahead, 38-30.

The Dukes increased their lead to 14 points in the second half on a Jake DiMichele three-pointer, but just when it looked like it would be an easy trip to the finish line, BYU again came storming back. The Cougars went on a 19-6 run to claw to within a point with just over six minutes remaining.

The contest remained close the rest of the way, with the Cougars ultimately tying the score at 60 on a dunk by Fousseyni Traore with 1:47 left in regulation.

The Cougars never did take the lead again, however, and that was mostly thanks to guard Jimmy Clark III, who connected on three of four free throws and also made a layup to extend Duquesne’s lead to 65-60 with 26 seconds left.

Free throws were the name of the game for the Dukes in the final seconds. Freshman forward Jakub Necus and senior guard Dae Dae Grant went a combined four for four from the charity stripe over the next few possessions to give the Dukes a 69-64 lead with 10 seconds left. And after a Dallin Hall three-pointer pulled BYU to within two with six seconds remaining, Grant, a 94.5 percent free-throw shooter on the season, calmly sunk two more to send Duquesne into the Round of 32.

It was the Dukes first tournament victory since 1969.

It was an emotional scene hundreds of miles away in Pittsburgh; folks in attendance for first-round tournament action at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday afternoon watched on the scoreboard as Duquesne, the host university for the slate of first and second-round games in the Steel City this weekend, held on at the end. Cheers erupted during the second half of the Akron vs. Creighton 1:30 p.m. matchup, but they had nothing to do with the Zips or Bluejays, who ironically reside in Omaha, Nebraska, and everything to do with the Dukes.

Speaking of Akron, hometown hero and NBA legend, LeBron James, put Duquesne basketball in an even bigger spotlight during the week by publicly congratulating head coach Keith Dambrot, who coached James in high school and has announced that he will retire following the Dukes’ tournament run. In addition to that, James sent the Duquesne players new shoes for them to wear in their contest vs. BYU.

Next up for Duquesne is a matchup vs. No. 3 Illinois on Saturday evening. The Dukes will try and punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 and also extend the career of their head coach in the process.