Nov. 20, 2007

Complete Game Notes

DUQUESNE (3-0) at OAKLAND (2-1)
Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007 • 7:00 p.m. (EST)
Athletics Center O'Rena (4,000) • Rochester, Mich.

TELEVISION: None
DUQUESNE Radio: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: redzonemedia.com or GoDuquesne.com

Duquesne, which extended it season-opening win streak to three with an 86-59 win at Rice on Saturday, completes a two-game road swing at Oakland on Tuesday, Nov. 20 (7:00 p.m. EST tip).

Kieron Achara and Shawn James led the Dukes with 19 and 18 points respectively against the Owls as Duquesne outscored Rice 54-29 in the second half to go 3-0 for the first time in nine years and third time since 1989-90.

Oakland, 2-1, is coming off an 86-71 home win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Derick Nelson led the Grizzlies with 21 points and nine rebounds. Oakland's lone loss this season was by at point (76-75) in the season opener at Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Duquesne is looking to go 4-0 for the first time since 1986-87.

The Dukes, who snapped a 17-game non-conference road losing streak with a 72-71 win at Saint Francis, Pa. last December, have now won their last three non-conference road games (98-93 in OT at Boston College in the last non-conference road game last year and 86-59 at Rice).

DOUBLE TRIP: The Dukes will return from their five-day 2,424-mile journey from Pittsburgh to Houston (86-59 win over Rice) then Detroit via bus following the game. Duquesne will not miss any class time on Monday or Tuesday as the students have the week off for Thanksgiving.

DUKES AND GOLDEN GRIZZLIES: This is the third meeting between Duquesne and Oakland ... last year, OU defeated DU 67-53 at the Palumbo Center ... two-year's ago the Golden Grizzlies defeated the Dukes 77-53 at home ... the only other current member of the 10-team Summit League Duquesne has ever faced is Oral Roberts in 1979 & 1980 (1-1).

DUQUESNE LATELY: Duquesne, which won its first two games by a combined 100 points, posted its largest margin of victory in an non-conference road game in 14 years in Saturday's 86-59 win at Rice on Saturday ... DU, which held two of 29 opponents under 40 percent shooting last season, has held all three 2007-08 opponents under .400: Howard (.344), Winston-Salem (.349) and Rice (.321) ... DU 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 ... Duquesne held Howard to 59 points in the opener ... it was the first time an Everhart-coached Dukes team held the opposition under 60 points ... DU matched that Saturday vs. Rice ... the Dukes have been making five-man substitutions every 2-3 minutes in their uptempo style of play ... as a result, 10 players are averaging at least 13 minutes per game ... DU has assisted on 76 of its 107 field goals (71%) ... the Dukes have outscored opponents 177-85 in the second half.

MORE ON OAKLAND: Oakland is in its 24th season under head coach Greg Kampe ... Kampe is the longest tenured coach in the Summit League ... the Golden Grizzlies received four first place votes in the Summit League preseason poll of league coaches and media ... OU was picked to finish fourth with just 45 points separating the top four teams (IUPUI, Oral Roberts, North Dakota State and Oakland) ... Oakland opened the season with a 76-75 loss at UW-Green Bay on Nov. 9 ... the Golden Grizzlies rebounded with a 40-point (86-46) win over Adrian College on Nov. 11 and defeated Eastern Michigan, 86-71 at home on Saturday ... senior Brandon Cassise scored a career-high 26 against UW-Green Bay ... junior Derick Nelson recorded his first double-double of the season with a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds to go with five steals vs. Adrian and 5-11 sophomore Johnathon Jones had 16 points and five assists vs. EMU... the 6-5, 226-pound Nelson, a preseason second team All-Summit pick, led the league in rebounding last year ... he is averaging a team-best 9.3 rpg. this season ... Oakland has outrebounded its first three opponents 153-98, including +35 at the offensive end ... Eric Kangas, a preseason first team All-Summit League pick (12.9 ppg. last year) missed most of the first game and all of games two and three with a shoulder injury ... his return is uncertain.

BIG WIN ON THE ROAD: When Ron Everhart accepted the head coaching position at Duquesne, he took over a program in the midst of a 13-game non-conference road losing streak dating back to December 2002. The first edition of Everhart's Dukes added four more losses to that total before ending a 17-game road skid with a 72-71 win at Saint Francis, Pa. last December. The Dukes went on to defeat Boston College in overtime in their final road non-conference road game of 2006-07. Duquesne opened the 2007-08 non-conference road schedule in impressive fashion with an 86-59 win at Rice on Saturday. The 27-point margin of victory was Duquesne's largest in a road game since an 87-58 win at Robert Morris on Dec. 22, 1994. It was also just the second time in the past 35 years a Duquesne team has won a road game by more than 25 points.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE: Duquesne, which ranked second-to-last in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage defense last season (.507), has held each of its first three opponents under the 40 percent mark (Howard .344, Winston-Salem State .349 and Rice .321). In 29 games last season, DU held opponents under 40 percent twice. In addition, the Dukes - bolstered by 6-10 first-year transfer Shawn James - have blocked 25 shots in three games (8.3 bpg.). James, who led the NCAA in blocked shots in 2005-06 at Northeastern, leads the way with 10 rejections followed by freshman Damian Saunders with six and Kieron Achara with four.

JACKSON BACK: Senior guard Reggie Jackson, who missed all but three minutes of the opener and all of game two vs. Winston-Salem State with a sprained big toe on his right foot made his return at Rice. The 5-11 guard scored his first points of the season in 12 minutes of action.

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 renowned Heinz Kluetmeier did the photography and writer Gary Gramling wrote the story. Both paid a visit to campus back on October 3.