Jan. 23, 2008
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PITTSBURGH - Kieron Achara posted his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds as Duquesne (12-5, 2-2) opened a three-game homestand with an 83-67 Atlantic 10 Conference win over St. Bonaventure (6-12, 1-3) on Wednesday at the Palumbo Center.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Dukes who upped their home record to 8-1. St. Bonaventure, who was led by Michael Lee's game-high 23 points, lost their fourth in a row and remained winless on the road at 0-10.
Three other Dukes joined Achara in double figures with Phillip Fayne and Kojo Mensah scoring 11 and Bill Clark adding 10.
The Dukes were without leading scorer (14.3 ppg.) and rebounder (7.3 rpg.) Shawn James who bruised the underside of his left kneecap and suffered a mild medial collateral ligament sprain in the same knee during practice on Monday. James had an MRI done late Tuesday which showed no further damage. His status for Saturday's game against George Washington is not known at this time.
"Shawn is a key part of our team," said Achara, whose double-double was his first since the opener against Howard. "He's a strong presence inside. I knew I had to step up tonight."
"Without Shawn in there, they gave us some problems with their post-up stuff," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "I liked a lot of things I saw tonight with our effort and energy."
Duquesne jumped out to a 9-3 lead on a pair of 3-pointers by Gary Tucker sandwiched around one by Fayne. The Dukes, using full court pressure and five-man substitutions for the first time since their last non-conference game at Bowling Green on Jan. 2, upped the lead to 25-11 when Fayne buried a 3-pointer with 7:53 left in the half.
Fayne, David Theis and Jason Duty - three players who hadn't played since the Bowling Green game - combined for 13 of the Dukes' first 25 points.
Duquesne led 39-30 at the half as all 10 players who saw action scored.
DU scored the first seven points of the second half to make it 46-30. St. Bonaventure pulled to within eight on a pair of Lee free throws with 9:21 left before Achara answered with a three-point play and Fayne scored on a fast break layup following a Damian Saunders steal to up the lead to 13. The Bonnies cut it to 10 again before Achara and Clark hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 66-50.
"I thought we wore them down a little bit and were able to get some fast breaks and easy buckets down the stretch," said Everhart.
Duquesne turned 23 St. Bonaventure turnovers into 28 points in outscoring the Bonnies 28-9 in points off turnovers.
DU, which shot just 39.7, went 8-of-25 from the 3-point arc. St. Bonaventure was 6-of-22 from the arc in shooting 42.1 percent.
The Dukes outrebounded the Bonnies 44-35.
Duquesne continues its homestand against George Washington (5-9, 1-3) on Saturday and concludes the three-game stretch versus Massachusetts (13-5, 2-2) Wednesday, Jan. 30.
Saturday's GW game will be "Red Out `08" as all fans are asked to wear red to the game. The first 3,000 fans through the turnstiles will receive red T-shirts courtesy of UPMC Sports Medicine. Tip time is set for 7:00 p.m.
NOTES
• Duquesne's 12 wins are its most since 2003-04 (12-17). The last time a DU team posted 13 wins was during the 1993-94 NIT season when the Dukes finished 17-13.
• Jason Duty, Phillip Fayne and David Theis - all of whom last saw action on Jan. 2 at Bowling Green - combined for 13 of Duquesne's first 25 points.
