Dec. 20, 2008
Box Score
PITTSBURGH - Aaron Jackson had a game-high 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists and Melquan Bolding added a career-high 14 as Duquesne snapped a two-game losing streak with a 80-64 win over Rice on Saturday.
The win upped the Dukes' record to 6-4, while Rice, which had won its previous two, dropped to 4-6.
Lucas Kuipers led Rice with 16.
Damian Saunders had 13 points and 9 rebounds and Eric Evans and Jason Duty added 11 and 10 points respectively for the Dukes who had five double-digit scorers for the first time this season.
"I like the fact that our guys came out and had a little chip on their shoulder and played hard," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart.
There were four ties and seven lead changes in the first seven minutes before Jackson gave the Dukes the lead for good on a 3-pointer at the 12:39 mark. Duquesne went up 10 on another Jackson 3-pointer with 2:20 to go before Rice closed the half with a 5-1 run to make it 40-34.
The Dukes held Rice scoreless for the first 3:42 of the second half to build their lead back to double digits at 44-34.
Rodney Foster, who finished with nine points, hit all three of his 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the second half to keep the Owls within striking distance.
Evans, who scored all of his points in the second half, buried a 3-pointer at the 7:32 mark to put the Dukes up 61-51. Rice briefly cut it to nine before David Theis, who had a career-high 9 points, scored five in a row to make it 66-52.
Rice would get no closer than 12 the rest of the way.
"We did a good job of driving and cutting and getting to the line against their zone in the first half," said Everhart. "Because of that, they had to play us man-to-man in the second. Our cohesiveness was good. We weren't playing for `me,' we were playing together."
Duquesne, which shot 72.7 percent in the second half, outscored Rice 17 to 3 in points off turnovers and 28-12 in the paint.
DU outshot Rice 53.2 percent to 41.2 percent for the game.
Duquesne completes a stretch of three games in six days on Monday when it hosts North Carolina Central (0-13) at 7:00 p.m. The Dukes will then break for Christmas before returning to action at Robert Morris on Sunday, Dec. 28.
NOTES • Melquan Bolding's career high 14 points eclipsed his previous best of nine set at Radford on Dec. 10.
• Sophomore David Theis came off the bench to notch career highs for points (9) and rebounds (5) in 23 minutes ... his previous scoring high was eight set this year vs. West Virginia ... his top rebounding game was four at Saint Francis, Pa. also earlier this season.
• Duquesne, which made 3-of-8 free throws in Wednesday's loss to Old Dominion and was 15-of-19 in the previous game - a 68-63 loss to West Virginia - shot 20 free throws in the first half (16-of-20) and was 22 of a season-high 31 for the game.
• The last time Duquesne had five double-digit scorers in a game was in a 101-84 win at La Salle on Feb. 9, 2008.
• Duquesne is now 9-6 all-time against teams from the state of Texas, including a 7-2 mark at home.
