Dec. 31, 2010

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PITTSBURGH - Bill Clark posted his second double-double in three games with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Duquesne to a 91-64 win over Northwestern State at the Palumbo Center.

The Dukes, who led 53-29 at the half, never saw their lead dip below 20 in the second half in upping their record to 6-5.

Will Pratt led Northwestern State (8-6) with 14 points.

Duquesne outscored the Demons 39-8 off an opponent season-high 28 turnovers - including 18 in the first half.

B.J. Monteiro (15 points), Mike Talley (11), Joel Wright (10) and Sean Johnson (10) also scored in double digits for the Dukes. T.J. McConnell had six of DU's 22 assists.

Damian Saunders, Clark and McConnell had three steals each for Duquesne.

"Everyone contributed, especially on the defensive end," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "When we - as a team - defensive rebound, we get easy shots. I really thought that this one was going to be a dogfight. I think we caught them on a tough road trip, this being their second game in three days."

Northwestern State, which had 29 turnovers in an 85-52 loss at Canisius on Wednesday, led 4-2 before Duquesne took its first double-digit lead of the game on a Wright dunk that made it 14-4 with 13:48 left in the half. The Dukes increased their lead to 30-11 on a Jerry Jones layup. Clark's 3-pointer with nine seconds left put DU up 24 at intermission.

Clark, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds in an 81-54 win over IUPUI on Dec. 18, went 6-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-6 from the 3-point arc.

"I thought Billy was really focused and played extremely well," said Everhart. "When you look at his stat line, you can see just how efficient he was."

Nine players played more than 15 minutes, with none playing more than Clark's 27.

Duquesne's lead reached 37 at 88-51 with 5:04 left, before Northwestern State closed the game with a 13-3 run for the final margin.

DU, which outshot Northwestern State 46.8 percent to 40.4 percent, assisted on 22 of 29 field goals. The Dukes finished with 12 steals.

Duquesne plays its second game in 48 hours when it hosts Norfolk State (1-10) on Sunday, Jan. 2 at 4:00 p.m.

NOTES

• With the first of his three 3-pointers (with 11:34 left in the first half), Bill Clark passed Wayne Smith to move into sole possession of third place on Duquesne's career 3-pointers made list ... Smith had 179 3-pointers from 1999-02 ... Clark, who now has 182 career 3-pointers, trails only Tom Pipkins (311 from 1994-97) and Tony Petrarca (287 from 1987-91) on the DU career list.

• Duquesne, which has scored at least 79 points in its five Palumbo Center games, is averaging 92.4 ppg. at its on-campus home (4-1) ... the win was DU's fifth by 25 or more points this season.

• The Dukes have had five double-digit scorers in five of their six wins (the lone exception was the 81-54 win over IUPUI where DU had four in double digits and one with nine).

• Freshman Joel Wright finished with 10 points, giving him 30 in his past three games.

• Junior guard Eric Evans, who has been out since Oct. 27 foot surgery, made his season debut ... he hit his first field goal attempt - a 3-pointer - 40 seconds after entering with 16:14 to go in the fist half ... he finished with six points and four rebounds in 16 minutes.