Nov. 4, 2011
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PITTSBURGH - Sean Johnson led four players in double figures with 17 points as Duquesne shook off a sluggish first half to defeat Division II Shepherd University 79-54 in DU's exhibition finale at the Palumbo Center.
B.J. Monteiro added 13 points, Jerry Jones 12 and Mike Talley 11 for the Dukes who won despite making just four of 26 3-point attempts.
T.J. McConnell had 8 points, 5 assists and 7 of the Dukes' 16 steals.
Brantley Osborne led Shepherd with 18 points, while Chad Moore added 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Rams.
Duquesne used a 14-0 run over a seven minute span to take a 24-8 lead with 8:24 left in the first half. Five players scored during the run that was ended by a Marcus Pilgrim 3-pointer at the 7:58 mark. DU answered with a Jones layup and dunk and Eric Evans bucket to up the lead to 19.
Evans' basket, which made it 30-11, was Duquesne's final score of the half as the Dukes turned it over seven times while going 0-of-5 from the field in going scoreless for the last 5:59. Shepherd chipped away to close the gap to 30-20 at the half.
Shepherd turned it over 15 times and Duquesne 11 in a first half that saw the two go a combined 3-of-19 from the 3-point arc (2-of-11 for DU and 1-of-8 for Shepherd).
The Dukes opened the second half with a 9-3 run as B.J. Monteiro, who was scoreless in the opening 20 minutes, scored seven in the first 4:20. DU upped its lead to 39-23 before going cold again as Shepherd cut it to six on an Osborne 3-pointer at the 15 minute mark.
Mike Talley scored six of DU's next 18 points as DU built the lead back to 18 with 8:47 to go. Shepherd never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
"We had a lot of open looks that we didn't convert," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "We just have to do a better job of getting our feet set and shooting the ball.
"I was excited we found a way to manufacture easy baskets with our defense through our shooting drought."
Duquesne, which shot 55.9 percent in the second half, finished at 50 percent. Shepherd shot 34.6 percent and turned it over 24 times.
Duquesne opens the season at No. 16 (AP) Arizona on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 9:00 p.m. (EST) in the Tucson Regional of the 2011 2K Sports Classic. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
NOTES: Monteiro, Marhold, Johnson, McConnell and Evans started for the second time in as many exhibition games for the Dukes ... Johnson scored 10 points in the game's first four minutes ... Johnson was 3-of-6 from the 3-point arc, the rest of the team was 1-of-16 ... DU missed 14 consecutive 3-pointers from the 16:36 mark of the first half until Johnson converted again with 6:29 left ... DU's 16 steals were one shy of the school regular season record ... Shepherd University is a Division II school out of Shepherdstown, W.Va. ... the Rams compete in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) ... Shepherd was picked to finish 9th in the 15-team WVIAC by the league's coaches.
EXHIBITION GAME 2: DUQUESNE 79, SHEPHERD 54
Friday, Nov. 4, 2011 - A.J. Palumbo Center
SHEPHERD (54)
Moore 5-12 5-8 15, McCray 2-6 1-1 6, Pilgrim 1-5 0-1 3, Osborne 6-15 4-6 18, Spencer 1-4 4-5 6, Conti 0-0 0-0 0, Dauda 1-4 0-0 2, Hairston 1-1 0-0 2, Bryan 0-0 0-0 0, Burgazil 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 18-52 14-21 54.
DUQUESNE (79)
Monteiro 6-12 1-6 13, Marhold 3-4 0-0 6, Evans 3-4 1-2 8, McConnell 2-3 4-4 8, Johnson 5-11 4-4 17, Talley 3-6 5-6 11, Jones 6-10 0-1 12, Pantophlet 0-5 0-0 0, Abele 2-3 0-0 4, Datt 0-1 0-0 0, Martin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-60 15-23 79.
Halftime - Duquesne 30, Shepherd 20. Three-Point Goals - Shepherd 4-19 (Osborne 2-8, Pilgrim 1-2, McCray 1-4, Spencer 0-1, Dauda 0-2, Moore 0-2), Duquesne 4-22 (Johnson 3-6, Evans 1-2, Martin 0-1, Jones 0-2, Talley 0-2, Monteiro 0-3, Pantophlet 0-5). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Shepherd 33 (Moore 10), Duquesne 40 (Jones 7). Assists - Shepherd 8 (Moore 2, Osborne 2), Duquesne 18 (McConnell 5). Turnovers - Shepherd 24, Duquesne 18. Total fouls - Shepherd 19, Duquesne 19. Technicals - None. A - 2,185.
