March 11, 2009
Box Score | Photo Gallery
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Melquan Bolding had 23 points to lead five Duquesne players in double figures in the Dukes' 91-81 victory over Massachusetts in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament Wednesday night.
Aaron Jackson added 18 points and seven assists for the Dukes (19-11), who advanced past the first round for just the second time in their last 13 trips to the A-10 tournament. Bolding contributed a career-high 13 rebounds.
No. 7 seed Duquesne will play second-seeded Rhode Island at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in a quarterfinal game.
Chris Lowe had 23 points and Anthony Gurley scored 22 for UMass (12-18), which has lost eight straight A-10 tournament games. Ricky Harris added 17 and Tony Gaffney had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Minutemen.
Duquesne, which led by as many as 19 points in the first half, broke open a tight game in the second half with an 11-2 run that was capped by Eric Evans' four-point play that gave the Dukes a 73-66 lead with 5:22 left.
NOTES
• This was just Duquesne's second first round Atlantic 10 Championship win since 1995 and first since 2004. It was also the first A-10 Championship win in three tries for third-year Duquesne coach Ron Everhart.
• This was Duquesne's second consecutive win over UMass. The Dukes have posted back-to-back wins over the Minutemen just one other time since 1990 (that was in 2004, the second of which came in the first round of the A-10 Championship at Dayton).
• Melquan Bolding posted his first career double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds in 35 minutes. The 13 rebounds were the second-most ever by a freshman in an Atlantic 10 Tournament game. The record is 14 set by George Washington's Yinka Dare vs. Rhode Island on Mar. 7, 1993. It was the second 20-point game of Bolding's career, second only to his career-high 26 vs. George Washington on Jan. 14.
• Eric Evans scored all of his 14 points in 12 second half minutes. He combined with Bolding to score 15 of DU's final 22 points. Evans started the run with a four-point play that put DU up 73-66 with 5:22 left.
• With his one steal, Damian Saunders upped his season total to 67 which ranks second DU's single-season steals list. The school record is 70 set by Clayton Adams in 1988.
• With his seven assists, Aaron Jackson upped his season total to 175 and moved into second on DU's single-season assist list. He trails only Norm Nixon's school record 178 in 1977 on DU's all-time single-season list.
• The Rhode Island game will be televised locally by PCNC.
