Feb. 14, 2007
Box Score
RICHMOND, Va. - Duquesne rallied from a 12-point deficit to take a two-point lead with 47 seconds left only to see Richmond score the game's final five points to pull out a 69-66 win at Robins Center.
The win snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Spiders (6-18, 2-9) who are a perfect 10-0 against Duquesne since joining the Atlantic 10 in 2001-02. Duquesne, loser of two straight, dropped to 10-13 overall and 6-6 in the A-10.
Brian Morris, whose 3-pointer with 32 seconds left both broke Richmond's scoring drought and gave the Spiders the lead for good, scored a game-high 14 points. Dan Geriot, who went 6-of-9 from the field, added 12.
Reggie Jackson and Kieron Achara led Duquesne with 13 points each. Achara led all players with nine rebounds and added a career-high three steals in 21 minutes.
"We certainly had our opportunities," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "You could go back and look at a bunch of plays that could have won it."
Duquesne, which trailed by 64-52 with 8:13 to go, held Richmond scoreless for just under seven minutes while going on a 14-0 run capped by an Achara free throw that gave the Dukes a 66-64 lead with 47 seconds left. DU took its first lead of the game at 65-64 on a Gary Tucker three-point play with 1:26 to go.
On Richmond's next possession, Morris got loose for his fourth 3-pointer of the game to put the Spiders up 67-66 at the 32 second mark.
Reggie Jackson missed a driving layup in traffic and Tucker was whistled for a foul on the rebound sending UR's Drew Crank to the line for a one-and-one with 15 seconds left. Crank hit both to put Richmond up three.
Following a timeout, the Dukes got the ball to Aaron Jackson off a screen at the top of the key, but Jackson's contested 3-point attempt was off the mark. Crank rebounded, was fouled, but this time missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2.7 seconds left. Duquesne had its first inbounds pass knocked out of bounds at midcourt with .7 remaining and Aaron Jackson was unable to get off a last-ditch 3-point attempt as time expired.
Richmond shot 52.7 percent and turned it over just 14 times. Duquesne, which averaged 96.9 ppg. in its seven previous outings, shot 46.3 percent, including 5-of-13 from the 3-point arc. The Dukes, who entered the game seventh in the country in free throw shooting percentage at 76.3 percent, went 23-of-33 from the line.
"They got us to play their style, and I really thought we could beat them at their own game," said Everhart of the Dukes who were down 41-33 at the half. "We had our `chemistry' guys on the floor late in the second half we just couldn't come up with the big stop or the big shot."
DU's 66 points were its fewest since a 71-59 loss to Fordham on Jan. 14.
Duquesne returns to action on Sunday at Fordham (13-10, 6-5 entering Thursday's game vs. Massachusetts). The Fordham game, which will be televised by CSTV Networks, will air locally on Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh. Please note that the tip time has been moved to Noon to accommodate television.
