Cinderella stories don’t always come to an end, but they usually do.

At least they did for an underdog Duquesne squad that was looking to reach the Sweet 16 in a Round of 32 matchup vs. third-seeded Illinois at CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday night.

The Dukes, who entered the tournament as an 11th seed and upset sixth-seeded BYU in the first round on Thursday afternoon, had actually captured the attention of the country as one of college basketball’s most pleasant surprises. This was thanks in part to an unexpected victory in the Atlantic 10 Tournament last weekend that saw them win four straight games to clinch the championship as a sixth seed and earn an automatic bid to the dance. It was also thanks in part to public support from NBA legend LeBron James, who was coached in high school by Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot, like James, an Akron native.

How would the Dukes fare against a heavily favored Illini squad? Not very well. Illinois used its strength and quickness to jump out to a 36-13 lead midway through the first half and never looked back.

The Illini led 50-26 at halftime and continued to pour it on in the second half, as they increased their advantage to as many as 32 points before going on to capture a decisive 89-63 victory.

Senior guard Terrence Shannon led the way with 30 points for an Illinois squad that shot 59.3 percent from the field and made 35 baskets.

Senior guard Jimmy Clark III was Duquesne’s leading scorer with 14 points, while senior forward Fousseyni Drame was close behind with 13.

At the end of the day, the Dukes have nothing to hang their heads about. They appeared to be dead in the water after starting out 0-5 in conference play. Even after rebounding from that, Duquesne entered its conference tournament with no chance of reaching the 68-team NCAA Tournament outside of winning the whole thing and capturing an automatic bid.

Not only did the Dukes clinch an automatic bid to the tournament, but it was their first appearance since 1977. Not only did Duquesne go dancing for the first time since Jimmy Carter was president, but the beleaguered basketball program won its first tournament game since the year America first landed a man on the moon–1969.

Not only did the Dukes steal a tournament bid, but they may have actually stolen it from cross-town rival Pitt, who was on the outside looking in, despite finishing in fourth place in the more prestigious ACC.

Not only did Duquesne put itself on the national map when it comes to men’s college basketball, but it may have even put itself back on the map in Pittsburgh, a city where Pitt and even Robert Morris have enjoyed much greater conference and tournament success dating back to the 1980s.

Take a bow, Duquesne. You put your dukes up and kept on fighting until the end.