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PITTSBURGH - Micah Mason scored a game-high 20 points, including his 1,000th, and fellow seniors Derrick Colter and Jeremiah Jones added 18 and 16 points respectively as Duquesne pulled away in the second half to defeat South Carolina State 83-68 at Palumbo Center.

The win upped the Dukes' record to 9-2 - the program's best start since 1979-80. South Carolina State, which was led by Ed Stephens' 18 points, fell to 5-6.

Duquesne led by four with 11:57 left before Colter and Jones started a 12-2 run with back-to-back 3-pointers. Jones followed a South Carolina State field goal with a pair of free throws to give the Dukes a 10-point lead before Colter found TySean Powell with a resounding alley-oop to make it 69-57.

DU maintained a double digit lead the rest of the way.

Duquesne shot 57.1 percent - and held the Bulldogs to 40.7 percent - in outscoring SC State 45-29 in the second half.

"They beat us in the first half doing what we usually do," said Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry. "We struggled guarding them early, then made some adjustments. That was our best second half defensive game in a long time. Our guys really defended for each other. They came up with big stops which led to good offense."

Mason, who went 4-of-8 from 3-point, scored his 1,000th point on a 3-pointer with 16:33 left. Jones, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday, went 5-of-6 from the field and Colter, who will be taking part in commencement ceremonies tomorrow as an early graduate, added seven assists and three steals.

DU, which assisted on 19 of 29 field goals, shot 50.9 percent. South Carolina State, which shot 50 percent in the first half, finished at 45.6 percent.

There were two ties and four lead changes in a first half that ended with a Stephens 3-pointer that gave the Bulldogs a 39-38 lead. The largest lead by either team was six, which SCSU managed just over three minutes in and DU matched with 6:59 left.

Duquesne hosts Robert Morris on Sat., Dec. 19 at 2:00 at Palumbo Center in the Dukes' final pre-Christmas game. The men's game will be followed by the Duquesne women (10-1) vs. No. 25 (AP) St. John's (8-1) at 4:30 p.m.

NOTES

• Duquesne's 9-2 start is its best since the 1979-80 team opened 10-2 ... DU is 6-0 at home for the first time since 1999-00 (also 6-0).

• Micah Mason, who finished with 20 points, scored his 1,000th career point on a 3-pointer with 16:33 left in the second half ... Mason, who played his freshman season at Drake, has scored 843 points in his three years at Duquesne ... his career total stands at 1,005.

• Duquesne's largest lead was 18 (81-63) with 1:46 left ... there were three ties and nine lead changes before Mason gave the Dukes the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 15:30 remaining.

• This was DU's first win when trailing at the half this season.

• DU is 23-1 under Jim Ferry when shooting 50 percent or better.