Jan. 19, 2008

Box Score

NEW YORK -- Gary Tucker missed the second of two free throws with 2.2 seconds left as Duquesne's rally from nine points down with just over two minutes left came up short in a 75-74 loss at Fordham.

The Dukes, who were coming of a 80-78 loss at #22 (AP) Rhode Island on Sunday, dropped to 1-2 in Atlantic 10 play and 11-5 overall. With the win, Fordham moved back to .500 overall (8-8) and in the A-10 (2-2).

Tucker, who scored 12 of the Dukes' final 14 points, drew a foul on a driving layup after Brenton Butler had given the Rams a 75-73 lead by making one of two free throws with 9.9 seconds left. Tucker's first free throw rattled around and in, but the second was short. Fordham's Bryant Dunston rebounded and was fouled with one second left. Dunston missed both free throws - the second intentionally to prevent the Dukes from getting a last second shot.

"Dunston was huge for them," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart of Fordham's 6-8, 252-pound forward. "We had some bad breaks. Shawn [James] missed a one-and-one late and Tuck missed that one at the end. We didn't do a very good job of rebounding the basketball - especially in the second half."

Dunston finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Butler led all Fordham scorers with 16 points - including a game-high four 3-pointers. Marcus Stout scored 13 of his 15, including three 3-pointers, in the second half for the Rams.

Shawn James led Duquesne with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Tucker finished with 14.

Duquesne led 11-2 five minutes into the game and upped the lead to a game-high 14 points on a James jumper to make it 29-15 with six minutes left in the first half.

Fordham then went on a 15-7 run to close out the half down 36-30.

The Rams, who hit six of their nine 3-pointers in the second half, took the lead on a Butler 3-pointer at the 15:30 mark, Fordham built the lead to 67-56 when Stout buried a 3-pointer with 6:28 left.

The Rams led by eight with under two minutes left when Tucker took over. The senior guard hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 72-69 with 1:22 to go.

James pulled the Dukes to within two on a jumper with 33 seconds left, and after Fordham's Kevin Anderson hit one of two free throws, Tucker hit an acrobatic driving layup to cut to one.

The Dukes then fouled Butler, who made one of two from the stripe in setting up Tucker's final two free throw attempts.

Duquesne outshot Fordham 53.6 percent to 47.5 percent, but was outrebounded 35-28, including 20-10 in the second half.

"I'm disappointed we didn't rebound the ball better in the second half," said Everhart. "I didn't think we guarded real well in the second half, but we guarded good enough not to be down seven or nine points. It seemed like every time they got an offensive rebound they were able to kick the ball out and hit a three."

Duquesne returns home to begin a three-game homestand with a Wednesday night CSTV regional syndication game against St. Bonaventure (6-11, 0-3) at 9:00 p.m. The Dukes host George Washington on the 26th and Massachusetts on the 30th before hitting the road for a return game at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 2.

NOTES
• James, a Brooklyn native who was playing in New York City for his first time as a collegian, posted his team-high fourth double-double (20-10).
• DU's two conference losses have come on the road by a total of three points (80-78 at Rhode Island and 75-74 at Fordham).