Nov. 7, 2009

Box Score / GALLERY

PITTSBURGH - Damian Saunders had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists and Eric Evans added 15 points to lead six Dukes in double figures as Duquesne coasted to a 95-48 win over Division III La Roche in its exhibition opener at the Palumbo Center.

Melquan Bolding and freshman Sean Johnson added 13 points each for the Dukes. Redshirt freshman Rodrigo Peggau had 10 points and six rebounds in 13 minutes and Bill Clark had 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Laron Mann scored 14 points for La Roche, which had just two players taller than 6-4 on its roster.

Duquesne scored the first 18 points of the game in jumping out to a 35-4 lead. The Dukes, who finished with nine 3-pointers, made six from the arc - by five different players - in the game's first 7:30. La Roche, which competes in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, managed just one field goal in the first 14:37 as Duquesne's lead reached 38 points late in the half. Duquesne's lone turnover of the first half came 54 seconds into the game.

"It was good for us to see how our guys would do with people in the building," said fourth-year Duquesne coach Ron Everhart. "Its early right now, but we've got guys who are working."

Seven different players scored five or more for the Dukes in a first half that ended with DU up 55-20.

"Damian Saunders was phenomenal, Billy Clark was solid and Eric Evans ran the show well," said Everhart. "Melquan Bolding was effective despite going 0-of-5 from 3-point. Sean Johnson gave us a real lift off the bench and Rodrigo Peggau, who has been playing great in practice, carried that over to the game."

The Dukes took a 40-point lead on Jason Duty's game-high third 3-pointer of the game with 17 minutes left. La Roche never got closer than 31 the rest of the way. DU's reserves closed the game with a 14-1 run for the final margin.

Duquesne, which was 8-of-17 from the arc in the first half, hit 1-of-10 in the second half to finish at 33.3 percent. The Dukes also hit just 20-of-42 free throw attempts.

"We've got work to do, especially on our free throws," said Everhart. "But a bright spot was the fact that we limited our turnovers to under five."

The Dukes, who assisted on 18 of 33 field goals turned it over just four times and outrebounded the Redhawks 51-35.

La Roche was held to 29.8 percent shooting while turning it over 21 times.

Duquesne opens the regular season at home versus Nicholls State on Friday, Nov. 13.

NOTES: Eric Evans, Jason Duty, Melquan Bolding, Bill Clark and Damian Saunders started the game for the Dukes ... freshman guard Sean Johnson and redshirt freshman Rodrigo Peggau were the first players to enter the game for the Dukes at the 14:03 mark ... Peggau hit a 3-pointer just over a minute later on his first field goal attempt ... nine different Dukes saw action in the game's first nine minutes ... Duquesne had just one turnover - at the 19:06 mark - in building its 55-20 halftime lead ... seven-foot Kentucky transfer Morakinyo Williams was in street clothes as he recovers from a minor medical procedure ... Williams is expected to resume practicing this week ... B.J. Monteiro was also in street clothes as he served the first of a two-game suspension for a violation of team rules (he will also miss next Friday's regular-season opener against Nicholls State) ... the Redhawks return four starters - three of whom are seniors - from last year's 14-12 team ... La Roche was picked to finish fifth of 11 teams in the 2009-2010 preseason poll of AMCC coaches.