Feb. 15, 2010

Watch Live
Complete Game Notes

DUQUESNE (13-12, 4-7) at CHARLOTTE (18-6, 8-2)
Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 ­• Halton Arena (9,105) • Charlotte, N.C • 7:06

TELEVISION: CBS College Sports Regional with Matt McConnell & John Griffin

Will air locally on The Comcast Network ch. 188 or 210 depending on cable provider & on Armstrong Cable "A Channel" (ch. 10 in the Keystone system - Butler County, Grove City and ch. 20 in Connellsville)
Additional outlets: The Comcast Network, Comcast Sportsnet MidAtlantic, Time Warner North Carolina

DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
STREAMING AUDIO: redzonemedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
GAMETRACKER: Charlotte49ers.com

DUKES AT CHARLOTTE: Duquesne (13-12, 4-7), coming off a 103-82 win over La Salle on Sunday, heads south to face its second consecutive team coming off a week layoff in Charlotte (18-6, 8-2) on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 7:06 p.m. The game will be televised regionally by CBS College Sports. Charlotte, which hasn't played since a 75-47 loss at Dayton on Feb. 10, is in the thick of the Atlantic 10 race with an 8-2 league record. The 49ers, who are 9-1 at home, are 143-41 (.777) all time at Halton Arena. Duquesne, which is 2-8 on the road, has yet to win at Charlotte in three tries - including two since Charlotte joined the A-10 in 2005-06. The Dukes snapped an eight game road losing streak at George Washington on Feb. 6. DU which saw a 16-point second half lead go by the wayside in an 84-80 loss to UMass on Thursday, rallied from a 14-point first half deficit to win going away versus La Salle. The 14-point comeback matched the best by a Ron Everhart coached DU team. The Dukes, who entered the La Salle game averaging 67.5 ppg., set season highs for points (103), assists (23) and steals (14) while forcing an opponent season high 28 turnovers. Bill Clark led the attack with a career-high 34 points on 11-of-14 shooting. Melquan Bolding added 24 (13-of-15 from the foul line).

DUQUESNE LATELY: Junior F Damian Saunders, who topped the 1,000-point mark with 15 vs. UMass on Feb. 11 (88th game of his career), began the week ranked 3rd nationally in double-doubles (18), 3rd in rebounds/g. (12.2), 4th in steals/g. (2.8) and 8th in blocks/g. (3.4) ... his 12.2 rpg. average is the fifth-best in A-10 history ... his 71 steals have tied the DU season record he set in 34 games last year ... fellow junior G/F Bill Clark joined Saunders in the 1,000-point club while scoring a career high 34 vs. La Salle on Sunday (it was the 88th game of his career) ... DU has played a school record six overtime games (2-4) ... the NCAA record is eight, by three schools ... DU is limiting opponents to 69.1 ppg. ... it is the lowest opponent scoring average since 1985-86 (68.9 ppg.) ... DU opponents are shooting .404 from the field, which translates to DU's best field goal percentage defense since 1970-71 (.389) ... last year, Duquesne ranked 309th of 330 teams in scoring defense (74.7 ppg.) and 294th in field goal percentage defense (.462) ... DU has held second-half leads in 20 of 25 games.

THE SERIES: This is the eighth meeting between Duquesne and fifth-year Atlantic 10 member Charlotte ... the 49ers lead the series 5-2, including a 3-0 mark in games played at Charlotte ... the Dukes notched their first A-10 win over the 49ers last year at Pittsburgh (76-71) ... in the first A-10 meeting, Charlotte defeated Duquesne 77-71 at Charlotte ... three years ago, Charlotte defeated the Dukes 99-90 in Pittsburgh ... two years ago, Duquesne, down two with 1:42 to go, couldn't close the gap in an 89-82 loss at Charlotte ... Bill Clark was Duquesne's top returning scorer in that game with 14 points ... DU, which entered its last game at Charlotte having had five players foul out in its first 26 games, had three players disqualified on the afternoon ... last year, Aaron Jackson capped his 100th career game with 30 points and some late-game heorics to lead the Dukes to a 76-71 win over Charlotte in the A-10 opener for both schools ... with the game tied at 69-69, Jackson scored on a driving layup with 1:22 to go ... he then came up with a steal on Charlotte's next possession and rifled a 25-foot pass to Damian Saunders who hit a twisting layup to put the Dukes up four ... Jackson then hit three free throws over the final 24 seconds for the final margin.

MORE ON THE 49ERS: Charlotte is led by first-year Boston College transfer 6-6 junior Shamari Spears (16.4, 6.0) and 5-8 senior guard Derrio Green (13.8, 66 3-pointers) - both of whom have posted a 30-point game this season ... Charlotte, picked to finish 8th in the A-10 preseason poll, is 8-2 in league play ... the 49ers are 9-1 at home with the lone loss coming to Georgia Tech, 76-67 ... the Niners are 143-41 all time (.777) at Halton Arena.

LA SALLE LEFTOVERS: The 14-point comeback matched the best by a DU team under Ron Everhart (the Dukes trailed 41-27 with 7:30 left in the first half) ... it was DU's second-largest margin of victory (+21) in the 65-game series (largest since an 89-58 win over La Salle on Jan. 19, 1964) ... DU set season highs for points (103), points in each half (49 & 54), free throws made and attempted (28-38), assists (23) and steals (14) ... La Salle was without a trio of injured seniors in Yves Mekongo (finger), Kimmani Barrett (foot) and Ruben Guillandeaux (out for season, foot) ... the threesome had 2,839 career points entering the game ... it was the first time the home team won in the series since 2006.

NOTES FROM THE DUKES CLIPBOARD

• Duquesne returns four starters from last year's 21-13 NIT team. DU's 21 wins last season were the most since the 1971 NCAA team went 21-4.

• One of the key returnees, 6-3 sophomore Melquan Bolding, missed seven weeks of practice (13 games) with a fractured wrist suffered in the opener vs. Nicholls State. Bolding, who had a team-high 25 points vs. Nicholls, had surgery on his right (shooting) wrist Nov. 17 and had a hard cast removed on Dec. 1. He was cleared to resume practice on Jan. 5. The Dukes were 8-5 without Bolding.

• DU, which has gone 10-19, 17-13 & 21-13 in three seasons under head coach Ron Everhart, is looking for its third consecutive winning campaign. The last time that happened on the Bluff was from 1968-73 when Red Manning's Dukes finished above .500 six straight times. Duquesne was coming off a 3-24 season, and had finished above .500 once (1994) in the 21 years prior to Everhart taking over in 2006-07.

• Juniors Damian Saunders (second team) and Bill Clark (third team), both preseason All-Atlantic 10 picks, have led the way for the Dukes so far. Saunders is averaging 14.9 ppg., 12.2 rpg., 2.8 spg. and 3.4 bpg. Saunders' 18 double-doubles began the week ranked third in the nation. Clark is averaging 13.8 ppg. & 6.2 rpg. (with 34 3-pointers). Saunders topped the 1,000-point mark on Feb. 11 vs. UMass and Clark did it on Feb. 14 vs. La Salle. Both topped 1,000 in their 88th game.

• DU has held second half leads in 20 of 25 games ... the Dukes have led at the half 16 times and managed a double-digit lead in 13 games.

• DU has played a school record six overtime games (2-4), including a school record three multiple-overtime games (all double OT). The NCAA record for OT games in a season is eight done by Western Kentucky in 1978, Portland in 1984 and Valparaiso in 1993.

• Duquesne has held 15 of 25 teams under 40 percent from the field.

• DU opponents are shooting .404 and averaging 69.1 ppg. The opponent field goal percentage is the lowest caused by a Duquesne team since 1970-71 (.389). The 69.1 opponent points per game are the lowest since 1985-86 (68.9 ppg.).

• Five players have scored 20 or more in a game: Damian Saunders (five times), Bill Clark (four times), Melquan Bolding (three times), B.J. Monteiro (twice) and Eric Evans (once). In addition, six players have led the Dukes in scoring at least once. DU and La Salle are the only A-10 schools to have five 20-point scorers this season.

• Damian Saunders (37.6 min/g) has played 40 or more minutes eight times including 50 vs. Canisius & Saint Louis. He is averaging 39.5 min./g. in A-10 play (435 of a possible 460 minutes).

• Damian Saunders was the first Duquesne player in 39 years to open a season with six-straight double-doubles. His 18 double-doubles are the most by a DU player since Bruce Atkins' 22 in 1980-81.

• Saunders' 12.2 rebounds per game average - in addition to being the fifth-best average in Atlantic 10 history - is the best by a Duquesne player since Lionel Billingy averaged 13.1 rpg. in 1973-74 ... his 306 total rebounds are the most by a DU player since Bruce Atkins had 352 in 1980-81 ... Saunders' 2.8 steals/g. are on pace to break the school record he set last year (2.4 spg.).

• Saunders (206 career blks), who rejected a career-high nine at Old Dominion on Dec. 30 (third highest total in school history), ranks second on DU's all-time blocked shot list. He trails only Derrick Alston (229 from 1991-94).

• Saunders needs 15 steals to pass current Washington Wizards guard Mike James (201 from 1995-98) and move into the No. 3 spot in DU's career list.

• Saunders' 71 steals this season (in 25 games) have tied the school single-season record of 71 he set last year in 34 games.

• DU is 49-8 (11-3 this season) when leading with 5:00 minutes left and 9-0 (5-0 this season) when holding opponents under 60 points under Ron Everhart ... the Dukes are 4-0 this year in games decided by three or fewer points.

• Entering this season Duquesne was 1-19 under Ron Everhart when scoring fewer than 70 points. So far this season, the Dukes are 3-8 when scoring under 70 (the wins: 52-50 at Iowa, 58-44 over Savannah State and 59-54 over Robert Morris).

• Duquesne has opened with at least four consecutive wins in each of the past three seasons (4-0 this season, 4-0 last year and 6-0 in 2007-08). The 2007-08 start was the school's best in 28 years. The last time Duquesne put together three consecutive seasons with 4-0 (or better starts) was from 1961 through 1963 (4-0, 7-0 & 5-0).

• Duquesne faced an Atlantic 10-tying high five NCAA tournament teams in non-conference play in Binghamton (W, 70-52, neutral), Pitt (L, 67-58 in 2OT at Mellon Arena), Radford (W, 71-63, home), Robert Morris (W, 59-54, home) and at No. 6 (AP) West Virginia (L, 68-39). La Salle is the only other conference school that played as many 2008-09 NCAA tournament teams in non-league play.

• According to research compiled by the University of Central Florida sports information department, only nine Division I schools have more underclassmen than Duquesne's 10.

• Ron Everhart's Dukes have scored 100 or more points seven times in his four seasons. Only Red Manning, who saw his DU teams score 100 or more 23 times in 16 seasons (1959-74) has coached more 100-point scoring Dukes teams.

PLAYER NOTES

#25 Damian Saunders
Junior Damian Saunders currently ranks among Duquesne's Top 10 in four career statistical categories: 2nd in blocks (206), 4th in steals (187), 8th in rebounds (720) and 8th in career FG% (.515) ... he became the 33rd member of the Duquesne 1,000-point club with a steal and layup with 17:30 left vs. UMass on Feb. 11 (his 88th career game) ... has already tied the school record for steals in a season with 71 (he set the mark with 71 in 34 games last season) ... he needs 15 steals to pass current Washington Wizards guard Mike James (201) to move into the No. 3 spot ... he is 24 blocks shy of breaking Derrick Alston's school record of 229 ... Saunders, the first DU player in 39 years to open a season with six consecutive double-doubles, has posted 18 double-doubles in 25 games, including streaks of six (to open the season) and nine in a row ... the 18 double-doubles are the most by a DU player since Bruce Atkins had 22 in 1980-81 ... the 6-7 Connecticut native has set new career highs for points (27 at George Washington), rebounds (19 vs. Nicholls State) and blocks (9 at Old Dominion) and tied his career-best for steals (6 at Iowa & vs. Richmond) and assists (6 at Temple) this season ... his current 12.2 rebounds per game average is the best since Lionel Billingy averaged 13.1 rpg. in 1973-74 and his 2.8 steals per game average is the best in school history (bettering his own record of 2.4 spg. set last year) ... his 306 rebounds this season are the most since Bruce Atkins had 352 in 1980-81 ... Saunders has pulled down 15 or more boards in a game nine times ... his career high entering this season was 14 ... came within a disputed first half goaltend of posting the second triple-double in Duquesne history at Old Dominion (11-10-9) ... the nine blocks tied ODU's Constant Center arena record set by former Duke Shawn James ... James set the mark in 2006 while at Northeastern prior to his transfer to Duquesne ... had seven blocks vs. Canisius and Saint Joseph's ... Saunders leads the Dukes with 44 dunks, bringing his career total to 104 ... his 100th dunk came off a spectacular fast break alley-oop pass from former high school teammate B.J. Monteiro at George Washington ... Saunders, who was named one of the nation's top 10 "Stat Sheet Stuffers" by Rivals.com in October, also flirted with a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks vs. Canisius ... he has posted six steals in a game twice this season (at Iowa and vs. Richmond) ... Saunders has struggled from the 3-point arc where he is shooting .205 (16-of-78) ... he has never shot under 34 percent from arc (.348 as a freshman and .343 as a sophomore) ... Saunders has more career assists (187), steals (187) and blocks (206) than turnovers (178).

#30 Bill Clark
Junior Bill Clark (13.8 ppg.) is tied with Damain Saunders for the team lead with 54 career double-digit scoring games, including 17 this season ... topped the 1,000-point mark with a career-high 34 vs. La Salle on Feb. 14 ... hit 11-of-14 shots from the field and 4-of-7 from the arc vs. the Explorers ... ranks tied for 4th on DU's all time list for 3-pointers made (140) and fourth in all-time attempts (427) ... opened the season with seven consecutive double-digit scoring games, including 20 or more three times: career-high 25 at Western Carolina, 23 vs. Pitt and 20 at Iowa ... was averaging 19.0 ppg. and shooting .464 (20-of-60 from 3-point) over those first seven games ... averaged 10.3 ppg. on .318 shooting over a span of 16 g. (10-of-66 from 3-point) prior to the scoring outburst vs. La Salle on Feb. 14 ... posted his fourth career double-double (first this season) with 17 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals in 50 minutes in the double overtime win over Canisius ... added his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the double overtime loss to Saint Louis ... his 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left in overtime forced the second OT session ... hit a career-high six from the arc (on 14 attempts) vs. Pitt (23 points) ... went 10-of-66 from the arc and has failed to make a 3-pointer in nine of his 16 games before hitting 4-of-7 from the arc against La Salle (34 points) ... Clark, who entered the season a .361 career 3-point shooter, is shooting .256 from the arc ... he is shooting .548 (69-of-126) on his two-point attempts ... despite his struggles, Clark leads the Dukes with 34 3-pointers ... his 3-pointer from the left wing with 11.7 seconds left proved to be the game-winner in DU's 52-50 win at Iowa on Nov. 17 ... the win was Duquesne's first ever in a Big 10 arena ... Clark's shot was ranked No. 4 on ESPN's Top 10 Plays that evening ... the 6-5 Californian has grabbed at least nine rebounds five times ... he leads the team in charges taken (15) and free throw percentage (.734) and makes (91) ... he has made more free throws than all but two other players on the roster (Damian Saunders & Eric Evans) have attempted ... the 6-5 Clark is Duquesne's second-leading rebounder at 6.2 rpg. ... saw a streak of 81 consecutive games played (every game of his career) and 51 starts snapped when he missed the game at Rhode Island due to a secondary NCAA rules infraction ... handed out a season-high six assists vs. Saint Joseph's ... went 2-of-5 from the arc at Temple ... it was his first game with multiple 3-pointers since he hit six vs. Pitt on Dec. 2 ... added 14 points and eight rebounds vs. UMass, before the big game vs. La Salle.

#23 Melquan Bolding
Missed 13 games and seven weeks of practice while recovering from a fractured wrist suffered in the opener vs. Nicholls State ... returned on Jan. 6 vs. Richmond ... DU went 8-5 in the 13 games he was sidelined ... scored 25 points - one shy of his career high - despite finishing out the Nicholls State with the wrist fracture ... underwent surgery to have a pin placed in the wrist on Nov. 17 ... was cleared to rejoin practice the day before the Richmond game ... had 13 points, eight rebounds and a career high-tying four assists in his second game back, at Dayton before coming down with strep throat the day before the Jan. 13 Saint Louis game ... played just five first-half minutes vs. the Billikens ... made his second start of the season at Rhode Island (six points, five rebounds and two steals in 29 minutes) ... his 3-pointer from the corner with 3.4 seconds left helped the Dukes snap a five-game losing streak with a 70-69 win over St. Bonaventure ... had 14 points (3-of-6 from 3-point) and a career high-tying four assists vs. the Bonnies ... added a team-high 14 points at Xavier before hitting three 3-pointers on his way to 24 points in the win over Saint Joseph's ... scored 17 in 15 first-half minutes against the Hawks ... added 14 points and nine rebounds at GW ... posted career highs for assists (5) and steals (4) vs. UMass ... went 13-of-15 from the line in scoring 24 points in 29 minutes vs. La Salle ... has scored in double digits in eight of 12 games and topped the 20-point mark three times.

#32 B.J. Monteiro
Sophomore B.J. Monteiro emerged as a pleasant surprise as a starter when Bolding was injured ... has led the Dukes in scoring five times ... scored 14 of his team-high 17 in the second half of DU's win over Robert Morris and followed that with a career-high 27 in the double-overtime victory over Canisius ... blocked Eric May's field goal attempt at the buzzer to preserve DU's 52-50 win in his first start, at Iowa on Nov. 17 ... also blocked a Chase Adams field goal attempt with two seconds left to force the Pitt game into a second overtime ... a former high school teammate of Damian Saunders, Monteiro has set a new career scoring high three times this season (18 vs. Arkansas-Monticello, 21 vs. Radford & 27 vs. Canisius) ... his career best, and only double-digit scoring game, entering the season was 12 last year at Dayton ... he has scored in double digits 12 times (four times in A-10 play) ... pulled down a career high nine rebounds vs. Richmond and matched that total vs. Saint Louis ... added a team-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting vs. UMass ... DU's top 3-point shooter at .333 (17-of-51, 4-of-18 in conference play) ... saw a streak of 20 consecutive starts snapped at Temple.

#3 Eric Evans
Sophomore point guard Eric Evans has scored in double-digits 13 times including a career high 20 (4-of-8 from 3-point) at IUPUI on Dec. 19 ... entered IUPUI game 3-of-33 from the 3-point arc ... followed that by hitting 7-of-8 from the field (including 3-of-4 from 3-point) in scoring 17 in 25 minutes vs. Saint Francis, Pa. and added 10 more at Old Dominion ... leads the Dukes with 91 assists, including eight games with five or more ... DU is 5-3 when Evans has five or more assists ... handed out a career-high nine assists in the opening night win over Nicholls State ... added career highs for rebounds (6) and steals (6) at Old Dominion ... is one of just two Dukes with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (91-62) ... second on the team in steals (34) and third in free throws made (57) ... has converted a team high seven (of 13) traditional three-point plays ... had a four-point play in the second overtime vs. Saint Louis ... scored all 12 of his points in the second half vs. Saint Joseph's and followed that with all 12 of his points at Temple in the first half ... had 13 points, three steals and eight assists (with one turnover) in 42 minutes of the OT loss to UMass ... had three assists in eight minutes before leaving the La Salle game with a back injury ... has 22 assists and seven turnovers in his past six games (3.1-to-1 ratio).

#13 Jason Duty
Senior guard Jason Duty (31-15) joins Evans as the other regular with a positive assist/turnover ratio ... badly jammed his right (shooting) shoulder during the Nov. 25 game at Western Carolina and shot .242 (8-of-33) overall and 5-of-26 from the 3-point arc in the ensuing six games before going 3-of-4 (3-of-3 from 3-point) in scoring all nine of his points in the first half vs. Saint Francis, Pa. ... missed the Dec. 9 WVU game with a sprained ankle suffered late in practice on Dec. 7 ... entered the season as a .364 career 3-point shooter ... is 30-of-92 (.326) from the arc this season ... hit 3-of-4 3-pointers in scoring a season-high 12 points at Dayton ... also scored in double figures on Nov. 25 at Western Carolina (11 points) ... did not try a 3-pointer on Jan. 13 vs. Saint Louis, ending a streak of 52 games with at least one 3-point attempt ... scored nine points off the bench (3-of-5 from 3-point) vs. UMass ... shooting .406 (13-of-32) from 3-point in A-10 play.

#20 Sean Johnson
True freshman Sean Johnson saw a streak of 22-straight games played snapped at George Washington on Feb. 6 ... has scored in double digits five times ... scored a career-high 17 in 20 minutes at Old Dominion (7-of-12) ... 14 of his team-high 17 at ODU came in the second half ... had 14 in 22 minutes at Dayton and 12 in 18 vs. Richmond ... had nine points, three assists and a pair of steals in 25 minutes vs. La Salle ... averaging 14.4 min/g. in A-10 play.

#5 Morakinyo Williams
Seven-foot Kentucky transfer Morakinyo Williams, who played a total of 28 minutes in six non-conference appearances, is averaging 12.2 minutes per game in conference play ... tied his season high with 13 minutes versus Richmond and surpassed that with 23 at Dayton and 28 vs. Saint Louis ... set career highs for rebounds (6) and assists (2) vs. the Flyers ... added five rebounds vs. SLU and four points in five minutes (2-of-3 from the field) vs. Saint Joseph's ... has four turnovers in 122 minutes of conference play (10 g.).

#33 Rodrigo Peggau
Redshirt freshman Rodrigo Peggau , who underwent successful right knee surgery last December, was cleared to participate in individual workouts in early September ... the Brazilian played in four games last year prior to opting for season-ending surgery ... his last full season of basketball was in 2006-07 at The Calverton School (Md.) ... missed the 2007-08 season at The Patterson School (N.C.) due to a torn meniscus in his right knee ... has seen action in 21 games with two starts ... had streak of 14 straight games played snapped on Jan. 31 vs. Saint Joseph's ... had nine points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes vs. Pitt and added eight points and seven boards in 15 minutes vs. Robert Morris ... he is 11-of-20 (.550) on two-point attempts and 0-of-6 from the 3-point arc .... he has played 20 or more minutes in a game three times ... has played a total of 41 minutes in 10 A-10 games.

Others
Sophomore #2 Chase Robinson has played in 10 games ... scored a season-high four points and added a career-best four rebounds in nine minutes vs. Saint Francis, Pa. ... played a career-high 13 minutes at IUPUI ... has seen five minutes of action in conference play ... six-nine , 255-pound sophomore #54 Oliver Lewinson has played in 12 games ... had two points, five rebounds and two steals in a career-high 22 minutes at No. 6 (AP) West Virginia ... he added three boards in five minutes vs. Canisius ... saw his first conference action at Rhode Island where he had three rebounds in 12 minutes ... freshman #3 Andre Marhold has come off the bench in 15 games ... grabbed four rebounds and blocked two shots in a season-high 16 minutes at WVU ... has played double-digit minutes four times ... saw his first conference action at Xavier (one block in two minutes) ... added another block at Temple ... had three points and an assist, block and steal in seven minutes vs. La Salle.