Feb. 24, 2008
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PITTSBURGH -- Darnell Harris scored 18 points and Ruben Guillandeaux added 17 as La Salle held off a late Duquesne charge to defeat the Dukes, 75-72, at the Palumbo Center.
The loss extended Duquesne's (16-10, 6-7) losing streak to three, while La Salle has won four straight since a 101-84 loss to DU at Philadelphia on Feb. 9.
Gary Tucker led Duquesne with a career-high 23 points.
Duquesne, which trailed by 13 early in the second half, whittled the lead to one with 28 seconds left before Harris hit a pair of free throws to give La Salle a 75-72 lead. DU's Bill Clark missed a contested 3-pointer with nine seconds left, but the Dukes retained possession on a held ball. Following a timeout, Duquesne worked the ball around the perimeter to Clark who misfired on a potential game-tying 3-pointer from the corner as time expired.
"I didn't think we played poorly. We just didn't shoot the basketball well," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "You have to take advantage of the opportunities you have, especially at this time of the year."
Duquesne, which went 4-of-20 from the 3-point arc, shot under 40 percent from the field (38.1%) for the third-consecutive game. Harris and Guillandeaux - who missed the Feb. 9 meeting with an injury - combined for six of La Salle's 10 3-pointers as the Explorers finished 10-of-24 from the arc.
"I thought we got the ball to the rim, but we got knocked around and missed a lot of chippies," said Everhart. "They made some tough shots and we missed some open looks. We did some good things late in the game, but obviously it shouldn't have come down to that."
There were three ties and four lead changes before La Salle closed out the first half with a 10-3 run to take a 41-34 lead. The Explorers scored the first six points of the second half to take their largest lead of the game at 47-34 with 17:47 to go.
Duquesne rallied to tie the game at 52-52 on a pair of Kojo Mensah free throws. La Salle took the lead for good on a Harris 3-pointer with 10:26 to go.
Aaron Jackson was the only other DU player in double figures with 11. Aaron Jackson, Reggie Jackson and Tucker had three steals each and Shawn James blocked seven shots in 23 minutes for the Dukes.
"We're not playing tough and physical around the basket," said Everhart. "We have a week off and we've got to find some rhythm and get back to running our offense."
Duquesne is idle until next Sunday's game at Charlotte.
NOTES
• Duquesne has gone .355 from the field and 14-of-63 from the 3-point arc (22.2%) in its past three games.
• Gary Tucker's 23 points were five more than his previous career high of 18 set earlier this year at Oakland and tied against Saint Joseph's.
• Shawn James finished with seven points, seven rebounds and seven blocks in 23 minutes.
• Duquesne outscored La Salle 20-5 from the foul line. The Explorers outscored the Dukes 20-13 in second chance points.
