Dec. 10, 2008
Box Score
RADFORD, VA - Aaron Jackson put on the best shooting performance by a Duquesne player in 35 years in scoring a career-high 36 points to lead Duquesne to a 94-75 win at Radford.
Jackson, who was coming off a season-low six points at Pitt, went 15-of-17 from the field - including 6-of-6 in the second half - in helping the Dukes (5-2) snap a two-game losing streak. His .882 shooting percentage was the best since Ruben Montanez went 15-of-17 in a 127-85 win at Saint Peter's on Feb. 17, 1973.
The win was the third on the road for the Dukes (5-2), who were coming off back-to-back road losses to Top 10 teams Duke and Pittsburgh. This is the earliest a Duquesne team has posted three road wins since 1985-86.
The loss dropped Radford, which was led by 21 points from Martell McDuffy and 17 points and 20 rebounds from 6-11, 260-pound Artsiom Parakhouski, to 3-5.
"Aaron was a hell of a leader for us tonight," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "When the game got tight in the second half he got the team together and we kept our composure. He was outstanding."
Duquesne saw a 17-point second half lead cut to five on an Amir Johnson layup with 6:39 left before Jackson drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the game following a timeout. Jackson hit his fifth - and final - 3-pointer 1:30 later to put the Dukes up 11. DU outscored the Highlanders 13-5 the rest of the way to seal the win.
"I can't remember having a game like this," said Jackson who recalled scoring 30 once in high school. "I had some triple-double type games in high school, but I never shot it like this. We had two big road tests in the past week [at Duke and at Pitt] and we were determined to get our swagger back. We practiced hard this week to get ready for this game."
Eric Evans scored 15 points for Duquesne. Damian Saunders and Bill Clark also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Duquesne, which shot 54.5 percent, went 12-of-26 from the 3-point arc as six different players hit at least one.
Radford, which is playing its early-season home games at tiny Peters Hall (capacity 575), was held to 37.3 percent shooting.
"We really showed good composure down the stretch," said Everhart. "We really made them guard us. We were able to control the game late with our offense, and that's the first time this year we've been able to do that."
Duquesne begins a stretch of four consecutive pre-Christmas home games against West Virginia (6-1) on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The Dukes host Old Dominion on Dec. 17, Rice on Dec. 20 and North Carolina Central on Dec. 22 before breaking for the holiday.
NOTES
• Jackson scored 20 in the first half ... the point total was the most by a DU player since Bryant McAllister scored 36 at Rhode Island on Feb. 8, 2006 ... Jackson's previous career high of 22 came against Northern Illinois and at La Salle, both as a sophomore ... Jackson was 5-of-6 from the 3-point arc ... the five 3-pointers were also a career best.
• This was Duquesne's third road win of the season. It is the earliest a DU team has posted three road wins since 1985-86 when the Dukes won road game No. 3 on Dec. 7.
• Eight of Duquesne's next 10 games will be at home beginning with Saturday's game against West Virginia.
