Nov. 12, 2007
WINSTON-SALEM STATE (1-1) at DUQUESNE (1-0)
Monday, Nov. 12, 2007 • 7:00 p.m. (EST)
A.J. Palumbo Center (5,358) • Pittsburgh, Pa.
TELEVISION: None
DUQUESNE Radio: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: redzonemedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
STREAMING VIDEO: GoDuquesne.com
Complete Game Notes
Duquesne,coming off a record-setting 129-59 season-opening win over Howard on Friday, returns to action against Winston-Salem State (1-1) on Monday, Nov. 12 at 7:00 p.m.
Kieron Achara and first-year transfer Kojo Mensah led seven Dukes in double figures with 29 and 23 points respectively as the Dukes set a new single-game scoring record and tied the 92-year-old record for margin of victory (+70) set during Duquesne's second season as a program (1914-15).
DU also set a school record for assists with 35 (on 49 field goals). It wasn't all offense as the Dukes held Howard to 34.4 percent shooting and forced 24 Bison turnovers.
WSSU opened its season with a split at the Iowa State Cyclone Challenge (a 58-44 loss to Iowa State and 68-58 win over Lipscomb).
DUKES AND RAMS: This is the first meeting between the Dukes and Rams ... Winston-Salem State, which competed as an independent last season, is entering the third year of a five-year transition to NCAA Division I ... the Rams are members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) for the first time this season, but only on a limited basis, so they won't be eligible for postseason play.
DUQUESNE LATELY: Duquesne set school records for points (129) and assists (35) in its 129-59 season-opening win over Howard ... the Dukes also tied the 92-year-old school mark for margin of victory set in a 90-20 win over St. Canisius on Feb. 24, 1915 ... the point total, which is the fourth-highest ever posted by an Atlantic 10 school, eclipsed the previous mark set in a 127-85 win over Saint Peter's on Feb. 17, 1973 ... the 35 assists - which tied the second-highest total ever by an A-10 team - broke the old DU record of 32 set against Indiana, Pa. on Dec. 29, 1988 ... Duquesne's .690 shooting (49-of-71) tied the sixth-best effort in conference history ironically enough set by Fordham against Duquesne last year ... Kieron Achara went 11-of-12 from the field in scoring a career-high 29 points vs. HU ... he also added 11 rebounds and three blocks in 17 minutes of action to earn A-10 Player of the Week honors ... Duquesne held Howard to 59 points in the opener ... it was the first time an Everhart-coached Dukes team held the oppostion under 60 points.
WSSU HISTORY: Winston-Salem State had a long history of success at the Division II level in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) under legendary coach Clarence "Big House" Gaines ... Coach Gaines, whose 828 wins from 1946-93 rank fifth on the all-time career victory list, won 64.9 percent of his games including eight CIAA titles and one National Championship ... NBA Hall-of-Famer Earl "The Pearl" Monroe was the starting guard for WSSU's 1967 NCAA Division II National Championship team.
A CLOSER LOOK AT WINSTON-SALEM STATE: Winston-Salem State returns all five starters, including seven lettermen, from last year's 5-24 team ... the 2006-07 Rams, who played just six home games, struggled on the road with a 2-19 record including losses at Georgetown, Kansas, Notre Dame, Auburn, Wake Forest, and UAB ... sophomore guard Darius Floyd is WSSU's top returning scorer, averaging 11.5 points and hitting 51 treys as a freshman last season ... senior Roy Peake, a 5-11, 170-pound guard averaged 4.0 ppg., while leading the team in assists (132) and steals (57) ... the Rams shot 35.9 percent from the floor last year while giving up 49.2 percent to its opponents ... WSSU is coached by Bobby Collins, who is in his second season with the Rams ... Collins spent 11 years at Hampton before arriving at WSSU ... he was an assistant from 1996-02 and then head coach from 2002-06 ... Collins was an assistant with the Pirates when they upset No. 2 seed Iowa State, 58-57 in the 2001 NCAA Tournament.
A BIG KID: Six-ten junior F/C Shawn James is featured in the current year-end double issue of "SI Kids" (Peyton Manning cover) in a four-page story titled "The Comeback." Sports Illustrated's reknowned Heinz Kluetmeier did the photography and writer Gary Gramling wrote the story. Both paid a visit to campus back on October 3.
