These players realize it's just a game

Their coach was in a Pittsburgh hospital. One of their best players was on the bench with five fouls. Oh yeah, and four of the players are still sidelined in the aftermath of a September campus shooting. All this on the heels of a 3-24 season in 2005-06.

No problem. In one of the big upsets of any college basketball season, undermanned, undersized Duquesne last night shocked Boston College, 98-93, in overtime before 6,516 at Conte Forum. It just proves that a hostile road crowd and a 6-foot-10-inch shot blocker with NBA skills are nothing to fear when you've survived the chaos and carnage of a semiautomatic weapon.

"Nothing scares us, not after what we've been through," said Duquesne guard Aaron Jackson (19 points), who was grazed by a bullet on the back of his left hand when gunfire crackled as he and his teammates were walking home from a school dance Sept. 17.

The shooting follows them everywhere. That's the way it's going to be for the Duquesne University basketball team this season. Five members of the team were struck by bullets. One young man was shot twice in the head and almost died. Another came within a quarter of an inch of being paralyzed.

So it stopped being about basketball for these guys. Life and death, first. Then fun and games.

But there is a schedule to be played and last night the Dukes came to BC and stunned the onetime top-20 Eagles.

The Dukes are 4-7, which is not bad considering that the power forward position at the school was virtually eliminated for 2006-07 on the night of the shooting. There are six freshmen on the squad and only nine scholarship players. Coaches held an open tryout after the shooting. Four of the Dukes are walk-ons, including freshman guard Jason Duty, who was recommended by the women's basketball coach.

Pundits put them at No. 13 in the 14-team Atlantic 10 in the preseason poll. Like most college teams, Duquesne is just now coming into the hard part of its schedule. But the Dukes are not like most college teams.

"I don't know where we'd be if not for the shooting," said assistant coach Richard Pitino (yes, the son of Rick Pitino). "But I know we're stronger because of it. They showed how strong they were that night."

That night.

New members of Duquesne's basketball team were just getting to know one another. An impressive group of recruits, transfers, and a few holdovers, they were assembled by new coach Ron Everhart, who had left Northeastern after five seasons. The players had been to a football game Saturday afternoon, then went to a dance sponsored by the Black Student Union. After midnight, the players were on campus, walking away from the building where the dance had been held, when things went haywire. All that is known for sure is that there was a verbal confrontation with some non-team members, then a hail of bullets.

When the shooting stopped, five young men, all ballplayers, were wounded. Sam Ashaolu was struck twice in the head and almost died (he is home now and hopes to play again someday). Power forward Stuard Baldonado was wounded in the arm and back, narrowly escaping a spinal injury. Kojo Mensah was hit in the arm and shoulder. Former Northeastern star Shawn James was shot in the foot.

"We had guys taking bullets for other guys," said Pitino. "Guys pulling teammates into dorms. One player [Stephen Wood] ripped off his shirt and used it to apply a tourniquet."

"Guys did everything they could do that night," said James. "The guys who didn't get hit were taking care of the guys who got hit. It shows how much love and respect we have for each other."

Two 18-year-old men, neither a student at the university, were arrested on multiple charges, including five counts each of attempted homicide. They have yet to go to trial.

Old-timers remember when Duquesne was a big deal in the college basketball world. The first black player ever drafted by an NBA team -- a factoid that recently reemerged with the death of Red Auerbach -- was Duquesne's Chuck Cooper. Red made the pick in 1950 and it turned out to be a significant moment in NBA (and US) history.

That wasn't the only time Duquesne had an impact on the Celtics. In 1956, when Auerbach schemed to get St. Louis's top pick in the draft -- a selection he intended to use on San Francisco center Bill Russell -- Red had to clear the path with Rochester, which owned the No. 1 pick. Red had Walter Brown make a deal with Rochester: In exchange for not selecting Russell with the top pick, Rochester owner Lester Harrison got the Ice Capades to make a trip to his arena. And that is why Rochester selected Duquesne's Sihugo Green with the first pick in the '56 draft. Green had an OK NBA career, while Russell and the Celtics made history.

Oh, and in the early 1980s, Magic Johnson's first backcourt runningmate was a guy named Norm Nixon -- from Duquesne.

Now Everhart is trying to restore the glory to a program that's had only two winning seasons in the last 25 years.

Duquesne's coach was not with his team last night. Sidelined with abdominal pain, Everhart watched from his hospital bed while the Dukes were coached by assistants Pitino, Kim Lewis, and Daryn Freedman. James watched from the bench. James and Mensah have healed enough to play, but are ineligible this season because of their transfer status.

Playing without starters Jared Dudley and John Oates, BC led by 10 points with 4:44 left. It looked as if Sean Williams (19 points, 13 blocks, 10 rebounds, 1 technical foul) was going to be too much for Duquesne, but the Dukes rallied and tied the game (77-77) on a 3-pointer by freshman Scott Grote with 8.2 seconds left. In overtime, it was all Duquesne. It was the Dukes' first win over an Atlantic Coast Conference team since 1992.

Duquesne doesn't have a lot of height or experience, but the Dukes are going to be a tough team to intimidate. They've already passed a tougher test than anything they'll encounter on a basketball court.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com.