Nov. 1, 2007

Box Score | Photo Gallery

Freshman Bill Clark led six Duquesne players in double figures with 19 points as the Dukes defeated Millersville 108-87 in DU's exhibition opener at the Palumbo Center.

Shawn James added 17 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks for the Dukes who took an early 19-5 lead and led from start to finish.

Charlie Parker and Reggie Bates led Millersville with 24 and 23 points respectively.

Duquesne led by 20 with seven minutes left in the first half before Millersville closed with a 15-9 run to make it 53-39.

Clark, who was 5-of-6 from the 3-point arc, hit three 3-pointers in the first 2:14 of the second half as the Dukes quickly built their lead back to 20. Millersville briefly cut the lead to 15 at the 15:43 mark before Clark started a 15-4 run with a layup off an assist from James. DU maintained at least a 20 point margin the rest of the way.

"We played with good effort tonight," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "I didn't think we were real sharp offensively and we didn't take care of the ball like we needed to but a lot of credit goes to Millersville. Billy [Clark] was a big key for us with his shooting."

Clark, who finished 7-of-10 from the field, missed his only 3-pointer in the game's waning moments.

"We recruited Billy to be a knockdown shooter for us and he did that tonight," said Everhart.

James, a first-year transfer from Northeastern, had a blocked shot, steal, dunk and 3-pointer in the first 2:21 of the game. His seven blocked shots came in 24 minutes of action.

"It was a real treat to see Shawn back out there, especially the way he started the game" said Everhart who coached James at Northeastern. "He was active and real bouncy. When he got his second wind later in the game he showed what kind of rebounder he can be if he puts his mind to it."

Kojo Mensah (14 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals in 24 minutes), Aaron Jackson (12 points, four assists and a team-high four steals in 21 minutes), Gary Tucker (11 points on 4-of-4 shooting in 14 minutes) and Damian Saunders (11 points in 16 minutes) were the Dukes' other double-digit scorers. First-year players Clark, James, Mensah and Saunders accounted for 61 of Duquesne's 108 points.

Duquesne shot 48.8 percent from the field, including 11-of-27 from the 3-point arc. Eleven different players combined for 18 steals as the Dukes forced 27 turnovers. Kieron Achara chipped in with four blocked shots as the Dukes finished with 13 rejections.

DU outrebounded Millersville 46-36 and assisted on 25 of 40 field goals.

Duquesne completes the exhibition portion of its schedule at home vs. Seton Hill on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 2:00 p.m. DU opens the regular season at home versus Howard on Nov. 9.

NOTES • Duquesne substituted five-man units throughout the game. Bill Clark, Shawn James, Phillip Fayne, Jason Duty and Kojo Mensah started the game with Damian Saunders, Kieron Achara, Aaron Jackson, Gary Tucker and Reggie Jackson comprising the other unit. Freshman Dave Theis and sophomore Jimmy Sherwood also saw action in the first half. Eleven different players scored in the first 20 minutes.
• Shawn James had a blocked shot, steal, dunk and 3-pointer in the first 2:21 of the game.

• Kieron Achara and James each had four blocked shots in the first half. James finished with seven and Achara four.

• Freshman Bill Clark hit three 3-pointers in the first 2:14 of the second half. He finished 5-of-6 from the arc with the lone miss coming in the game's waning moments.

• Duquesne topped the 100-point mark on a James free throw with 4:58 left.