Feb. 25, 2006
Box Score | Quotes | Notes
Pittsburgh, Pa. - Ahmad Smith's two free throws with 3.8 seconds left were the difference as St. Bonaventure held off a second-half Duquesne comeback to defeat the Dukes 77-76 at the Palumbo Center Saturday night.
Duquesne, which trailed by 17 with 10 minutes to go, took its first lead on a pair of Bryant McAllister free throws with 19.9 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Smith, who finished with a game-high 23 points, was fouled by the Dukes' Ronnie Thomas and converted both free throws. On Duquesne's final possession, McAllister was able to advance the ball just inside the 3-point arc and - despite some contact - was able to get off a contested 12-foot shot that hit the left side of the rim as time expired.
The win was the second in four games for St. Bonaventure (8-17, 2-12), while the loss dropped Duquesne to 3-22 and 1-13 in the Atlantic 10. Michael Lee added 17 points and Paul Williams scored 14 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for the Bonnies.
McAllister led Duquesne with 22 points, 8 assists and three steals. Keith Gayden added 18 points for DU.
St. Bonaventure led by as many as 16 before Duquesne closed with an 8-0 run to make it 36-28 at the half. The Bonnies led 60-43 when Smith scored the second of back-to-back buckets with 10:13 remaining. The Dukes cut the lead to single digits on a Gayden jumper with just under six minutes left. Chauncey Duke, Aaron Jackson and Ronnie Thomas all hit big 3-pointers in the final three minutes to keep the Dukes close. Thomas' 3-pointer with 1:06 left pulled Duquesne within one before McAllister was fouled with just under 20 seconds on the clock.
St. Bonaventure outshot Duquesne 44.3 percent to 43.1 percent and also had a 46-35 advantage on the boards. DU, which had six turnovers in the game's first 10 minutes, finished with 10. St. Bonaventure finished with 15 turnovers.
