Jan. 10, 2007
Box Score | Photo Gallery
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Rodney Green helped La Salle open a large first-half lead for the second successive game and the Explorers kept it this time, ending a six-game losing streak by dealing Duquesne a 79-63 loss Wednesday night.
Green scored 19 points and Ruben Guillandeaux had 17 for the Explorers (7-8, 1-2 in Atlantic 10), who led Massachusetts by 14 points in the first half Saturday only to lose 79-71. Despite having a below-.500 record, La Salle is 3-1 on the road.
Duquesne, coming off a stretch of five consecutive road games, was trying to build on a surprising 73-63 upset of Saint Louis on Saturday in which leading scorer Robert Mitchell sat out for disciplinary reasons. That victory was the Dukes' third in four games - an unexpected surge by a depleted team that is recovering from the Sept. 17 shootings of five players.
But the cold-shooting Dukes looked slow and out of sync early at both ends of the court, perhaps because they hadn't played a home game since a 31-point loss to West Virginia on Dec. 9.
La Salle, able to settle into its offense faster than Duquesne could, led 34-22 after Green hit a followup before converting a three-point play on the Explorers' next possession.
La Salle pushed the lead to 19 points midway through the second half at 55-36 and held on even though Duquesne got within eight points at 67-59 after a full-court pressure defense forced several turnovers. Darnell Harris added 13 points.
Mitchell, averaging 17.6 points, had 14 points but made only 4 of 12 shots. Kieron Achara had 15 points and Scott Grote scored 14 for the Dukes, who shot only 32.4 percent (22 of 68) to La Salle's 60.8 percent (31 of 51).
Duquesne also hurt itself by going 3-of-24 from 3-point range. The Dukes were 8-of-22 behind the arc in beating Saint Louis.
