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PITTSBURGH - Damon Lynn scored 27 points and handed out eight assists as NJIT shot 56.9 percent in handing Duquesne its first loss of the young season by an 84-81 score at Palumbo Center.

Micah Mason hit a career-high six 3-pointers in seven attempts in scoring 18 for the Dukes.

There were 10 ties and eight lead changes before Lynn gave the Highlanders a 63-61 lead on his sixth and final 3-pointer of the afternoon.

NJIT led by nine with 1:52 left before L.G. Gill began an 8-0 run with a 3-pointer. Derrick Colter, who finished with 14 points, scored on a baseline drive and was fouled, but was unable to convert the three-point play, making it 82-78 with 44 seconds remaining.

Colter followed an NJIT turnover with his fourth 3-pointer to make it 82-81 with 27 seconds left.

DU then fouled Ky Howard who made the second of two free throws eight seconds later.

The Dukes worked the ball to Gill in the deep right corner with eight seconds left, but NJIT's Tim Coleman was able to get a hand on the 3-point attempt and Winfield Willis gathered the ball in and was fouled.

Willis hit one of two free throws to make it 84-81 with eight seconds left.

Duquesne hurried the ball up the floor, but was unable to generate an open look as Colter's guarded 3-pointer from the left wing grazed the left side of the rim at the final horn.

There were nine ties and seven lead changes in a first half that ended with Duquesne holding a 44-41 lead. DU hit six 3-pointers and NJIT made five in the opening 20 minutes.

NJIT led 22-13 before the Dukes went on an 8-0 run to tie it on a Mason 3-pointer with 10:34 left. Neither team led by more than four for the remainder of the half.

Duquesne cut the lead to 69-66 on Mason's fifth 3-pointer before Willis, who finished with 13 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give NJIT a 75-66 lead with just under eight minutes left.

Mason responded with his sixth 3-pointer and Dominique McKoy added a tip-in to make it a four-point game.

The Dukes missed their next five shots - getting just a pair of Jordan Stevens free throws - as NJIT built the lead to 79-73. Willis converted a big three-point play to make it 82-73 with 2:13 left, before Gill ended the drought with the 3-pointer that started DU's 8-0 run.

DU's bench outscored NJIT's 37-14 behind 16 points from Stevens and 14 from freshman TySean Powell. Both teams finished 12-of-24 from the 3-point arc. NJIT outshot Duquesne 61.9 percent to 38.2 percent in the second half and 56.9 percent to 42.6 percent for the game.

Duquesne hosts Howard on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

NOTES

• Mason's six 3-pointers were a career high ... his previous high was five accomplished five times (twice as a freshman at Drake and three times last season at Duquesne) ... the junior guard also led the Dukes with six assists without a turnover in 27 minutes ... through three games, Mason is shooting .647 from the 3-point arc (11-of-17) with 15 assists and 3 turnovers.

• Mason (6-7) and Colter (4-6) were a combined 10-of-13 from the arc ... the rest of the team went 2-of-11.

• Freshman forward TySean Powell was 5-of-7 from the field - with three dunks - in scoring 14 points off the bench ... he is 12-of-14 with 32 points in his past two games.

• NJIT outscored Duquesne 32-22 in the paint ... the Dukes outscored the Highlanders 30-20 off turnovers.

• NJIT's largest lead was nine, the last of which came with 1:52 left ... DU's largest lead was four, the last of which was with 12:45 remaining.