Jan. 31, 2009

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PITTSBURGH - Aaron Jackson scored 19 points and freshman Eric Evans hit back-to-back driving layups in the final two minutes to help Duquesne erase a late five-point deficit and complete a regular season sweep of St. Bonaventure with a 74-68 win at the Palumbo Center.

The win upped Duquesne's record to 14-6 overall and 5-2 in the Atlantic 10 - matching the best overall and conference start by a Dukes team since 1980-81.

The loss was the fourth in a row for St. Bonaventure (11-10, 2-6), which came into the game looking for its school record eighth road win.

"I don't know how we won the game, but I'm happy we did," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "If someone would have told me we'd be outrebounded 52-27, shoot 20 percent from 3-point and 35 percent for the game, I'd say there's no way we win. Tonight our guards played well down the stretch. Jason Duty hit a big shot, Eric Evans had some dribble drives and Aaron Jackson was able to get to the free throw line. More importantly, they took away the 3-point shot at the end."

Duquesne was down 63-58 when Jackson converted a conventional three-point play to pull the Dukes within two with 4:27 to go. DU tied the game at 66-66 on Duty's lone field goal of the game a minute later. St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson, who finished with a career-high 29 points, answered with a bucket before Evans, who had 14 points, scored on back-to-back possessions to give the Dukes a 70-68 lead with 1:52 to go.

St. Bonaventure committed its 30th and 31st turnovers in the next minute as Damian Saunders hit 2-of-4 free throws to up the lead to four. Evans hit a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left for the final margin.

Nicholson, a four-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, was outstanding for the Bonnies, with a career-best 12 rebounds and six blocks to go along with his 29 points.

Jackson, who had 20 points and eight assists in Duquesne's 98-80 win at St. Bonaventure on Jan. 10, showed no ill effects from a bruised tailbone that had slowed him in the Dukes' previous three games.

Duquesne, which forced 20 St. Bonaventure turnovers in the first half, led 37-24 at the 4:17 mark only to see the Bonnies go on a 16-2 run capped by a Chris Matthews 3-pointer at the horn to take a 40-39 lead. Nicholson scored eight of his of his 20 first-half points during the run.

DU, which got 17 points from Bill Clark and 11 from Saunders, went 4-of-20 from the 3-point arc in shooting 35.9 percent for the game. St. Bonaventure, which shot 50.9 percent, was held to 38.7 percent shooting in the second half. Duquesne turned the ball over just once in the second half and 10 times for the game.

Duquesne returns to action on Wednesday at Saint Louis (12-9, 3-4). The game, which will be televised regionally by CBS College Sports, will tip at 7:00 p.m. (Eastern). The game will air locally on Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh on a tape delay basis that evening at 11:00 p.m.

NOTES
• Duquesne is off to its best overall and best conference start since 1980-81. The `81 NIT Dukes opened 14-6 and 5-2 on the way to a 20-10 record and 10-3 conference finish and tie for the regular season Eastern 8 title.
• St. Bonaventure's 31 turnovers were the most by a DU opponent since Saint Francis, Pa. committed 31 in a 79-68 loss to Duquesne on Nov. 27, 1996.
• DU finished the month of January 5-2. It is the second consecutive season the Dukes have posted a winning January record (4-3 last year). The last time DU had two or more consecutive winning records in the month of January was from 1978-79 through 1980-81 (three times).