Jan. 21, 2007

Box Score

Amherst, Mass. - James Life hit six 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 24 points and Stephane Lasme pulled down 17 rebounds to lead Atlantic 10 co-leader Massachusetts (14-5, 4-1) to a 101-87 win over Duquesne (5-11, 1-4) at Mullins Center.

Gary Forbes added 19 points and nine rebounds and Lasme and Chris Lowe scored 14 each for the Minutemen.

Robert Mitchell and Reggie Jackson led Duquesne with 22 each. Kieron Achara scored 17 and Aaron Jackson added 11 points seven rebounds and seven assists for the Dukes who dressed eight scholarship players - 10 total - for the game.

Duquesne made full use of its 10-man roster as each player saw at least 11 minutes of action. The Dukes opened the game with two freshman walk-ons - Jason Duty and Jimmy Sherwood - in the starting lineup along with fellow freshman Stephen Wood.

Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart substituted five man units four times in the first half alone as the Dukes used full-court pressure to force the action in the game that saw a total of 150 field goal attempts, including 50 from the 3-point arc.

"We decided on Friday that we were going to have to hurry things up and get a little faster rather than have teams pick us apart," said Everhart, who learned Friday morning that 6-9 center Almamy Thiero had been hospitalized with blood clots in his lungs. "One of the advantages we have is small players who can get the ball up the floor quickly."

Duquesne trailed by two at the half as Life hit five 3-pointers to pace the Minutemen with 17. UMass led by nine with 4:11 left before Reggie Jackson scored nine points - including two of his four 3-pointers - to pull the Dukes within 43-41 at the half.

Massachusetts led 67-63 with 9:22 left before going on a 9-2 run to take its first double-digit lead of the game at 76-65 with 7:25 to go. Duty cut the lead to eight with a 3-pointer before Ricky Harris, who scored 11 of his 13 in the second half, hit his second 3-pointer in less than a minute to push the lead back to 11.

The Dukes cut the lead to single digits three more times in the next four minutes, but could get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

Duquesne, which entered the game leading the A-10 in free throw shooting at 74.7 percent, went 11-of-22 from the line, while the Minutemen, who entered the game last in the A-10 at 59.7 percent, were 20-of-27 from the charity stripe. Duquesne went 7-of-15 and missed the front end of three one-and-one's in the second half.

Duquesne used its quickness to force a season opponent high 23 turnovers but, with only one player taller than 6-6 on the active roster, was outrebounded 55-35. The Dukes hit a season-high 12 3-pointers on a season-high 31 attempts.

"We forced 23 turnovers, but we just didn't rebound it as well as we should have," said Everhart. "We also uncharacteristically missed some very critical free throws in the final six minutes. UMass wore us down. They go at least two-deep at every position with quality guys. I think we missed a lot of those free throws because we were a little fatigued. We did manage to keep them on their heels a little bit."

Duquesne returns for a three-game homestand beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 24 versus Dayton. The Dayton game, set for a 7:00 p.m. tip, will be followed by a Jan. 27 game against Temple and a Jan. 31 clash with Xavier. The Dayton, Temple & Xavier games (along with Charlotte on Feb. 21) make up the Dukes Mini Pack which includes a reserved seat ticket, hot dog, Pepsi and a premium gift for each contest. For tickets call 412-232-DUKE.