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PITTSBURGH - Senior guards Micah Mason and Derrick Colter combined for 34 points, before heading to the bench with over 14 minutes left, as Duquesne upped its record to 6-1 with a 91-77 win over Mississippi Valley State at Palumbo Center.

Mason, who hit four 3-pointers, finished with 18 points and Colter added 16 for the Dukes, who are off to their best start since 2007-08.

Eric James added a career-high 18 off the bench for Duquesne. Darius Lewis scored nine of his 11 in the first half and TySean Powell added 10 points and a career high-tying eight rebounds off the bench for DU.

Colter, Mason and Lewis combined for DU's first 15 points as the Dukes built a 17-2 lead. James gave Duquesne its first 20-point lead at 33-13 on a jumper with 7:45 left.

Duquesne, which substituted liberally throughout, outscored the Delta Devils - who were playing their eighth consecutive road game - 10-0 off turnovers and 22-12 in the paint in building a 53-30 halftime lead.

DU scored the first seven points of the second half to up the lead to 60-30 with 18:29 left. The Dukes went to the bench shortly afterward.

"We came out and played extremely unselfish basketball," said Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry. "We came out and defended with a great disposition. Once we got up big, I think we let that slip a little bit - especially when the bench guys came in. The focus is to try to get better."

Marcus Romain and Isaac Williams scored 16 each for MVSU, which hit nine of its 12 3-pointers in the second half.

DU, which assisted on 23 of 38 field goals, shot 46.9 percent. MVSU shot 43.9 percent in the second half to finish at 39.5 for the game.

"Last year's team wouldn't have been able to do this - we wouldn't have been able to get up 30, like we have on a couple of teams," said Ferry. "We're a different team. We're a better team. We are better defensively and we're more experienced. I think you saw that with our seniors again. When those guys are in the game, playing, we're a pretty good team."

Duquesne returns to action on Friday, Dec. 4 when it takes on Pitt in the 84th City Game at CONSOL Energy Center at 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by CBSSN.

NOTES

• Duquesne's 6-1 start is its best under fourth-year head coach Jim Ferry and best by the program since 2007-08 ... the 2007-08 Dukes finished 17-13.

• The last time Duquesne trailed in a game was with 44 seconds left in overtime of its 96-92 win over Milwaukee on Nov. 24 (a span of two games).

• Micah Mason finished with 18 points (4-of-8 from 3-point), 4 rebounds and 5 assists in 19 minutes ... he is 12-of-21 from the arc (.571) in his past three games.

• Derrick Colter, who scored a career-high 27 vs. Milwaukee and followed that with 24 vs. Western Kentucky, saw his streak of consecutive 20-point games snapped at two ... he finished with 16 points in 24 minutes.

• TySean Powell attempted - and made - the first two 3-point attempts of his career ... he banked in the first one in the first half, and swished the second in the second half ... Powell finished with 10 points and career high-tying eight rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.

• Eric James went 7-of-11 from the field in scoring a career-high 18 points in 20 minutes off the bench ... on the season, James has made 21 of his 23 two-point field goal attempts (he is 2-of-12 from 3-point).