Dec. 31, 2008
Box Score
PITTSBURGH - Bill Clark scored 18 of his career-high 21 points in the second half as Duquesne erased a 10-point deficit to defeat Bowling Green 76-65 at the Palumbo Center.
The win, Duquesne's fourth in a row, upped the Dukes' record to 9-4, while Bowling Green remained winless on the road at 0-6 in dropping to 6-6 overall.
Clark, who went 1-of-6 in the first half, hit 7-of-8 in the second including 4-of-4 3-point attempts to spearhead the comeback.
Damian Saunders added 16 points, 9 rebounds and a career-high tying 4 blocks for the Dukes. Aaron Jackson had 15 points, 9 assists and 4 steals and Melquan Bolding added 10 points for DU.
Darryl Clements led three Bowling Green players in double figures with 20.
DU led 14-10 before Otis Polk scored seven in a 14-3 run that put the Falcons up 24-17 with 6:45 left in the half. Duquesne, which shot 58.1 percent in its win over Robert Morris on Sunday, started slowly hitting just 9-of-32 shots in falling behind 33-26 at the half. DU's 26 first half points were a season low.
Bowling Green opened the second half with a 3-pointer to take its largest lead of the game at 36-26 before Duquesne responded by hitting five of its first six shots to pull within one on a Bill Clark 3-pointer at the 15:28 mark. Clark gave the Dukes their first lead since the 10:10 mark of the first half with a driving layup just under two minutes later to make it 42-41.
Duquesne, which held the lead the rest of the way, built its lead to 15 with 4:30 left. The Dukes hit 8-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.
"We couldn't score in the first half and that made their zone more effective," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "In the second half we did a better job of finishing. For us to score 50 in the second half against this team. I was pretty excited about that."
Duquesne shot 64 percent in the second half in outscoring the Falcons 50-32. The Dukes turned it over just four times in the final 20 minutes.
"Our young kids are making some progress," continued Everhart. "Guys are starting to buy in. They are sharing the basketball and someone different always seems to step up. We're starting to develop some cohesiveness, and when you do that you always have a chance."
Duquesne opens Atlantic 10 play on Wednesday, Jan. 7 against Charlotte. The game, set for a 7:00 p.m. tip, is the conference opener for both schools.
NOTES
• Bill Clark's previous career high was 16 set at Oakland and matched vs. Cal State Northridge last season ... the four 3-pointers made tied his career high set last year against South Carolina Upstate.
• This is the second consecutive season Duquesne has posted nine wins prior to Jan. 1 (9-3 last year) ... the last time DU had nine pre-January wins prior to Ron Everhart's arrival was in 1968-69 (9-1) ... the school record for pre-January wins is 10 (10-0 in 1953-54).
• Duquesne has won 19 non-conference games over the past two seasons. The 19 non-league wins are the most in back-to-back years since 1980 (11-6) and 1981 (8-8). This is the first time since 1993 & 1994 that Duquesne has posted consecutive winning records in non-conference play.
