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PITTSBURGH - Derrick Colter scored a team-high 19 points - including six free throws in the final 39 seconds - to help Duquesne pull away for a 72-65 win over Robert Morris at Palumbo Center.

The win snapped a five-game series losing streak for the Dukes who upped their record to 10-2.

Elijah Minnie had 23 points and Rodney Pryor added 22 for the Colonials, who dropped to 2-10.

Eric James came off the bench for an injured Jeremiah Jones to score 13 points and grab a career-high eight rebounds for Duquesne. Micah Mason added 10 points for DU which moved to 7-0 at home.

DU's 10-2 record and 7-0 home mark are the best by a Duquesne team since 1979-80.

The Dukes were able to pull out the victory despite shooting 34.4 percent overall, including 4-of-27 from 3-point. DU was able to turn its 21 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points.

"Robert Morris was guarding the 3-point line extremely hard, so we knew we weren't going to win the game that way," said Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry. "What was impressive was our tenacity and our relentlessness on the offensive glass. We didn't talk at all about shot making going into this game. We just talked about offensive rebounding. We just constantly kept putting pressure on them that way.

"This team is starting to develop into a team that can win in different ways."

Duquesne took a 61-52 lead on a Nakye Sanders tip in with 6:28 left, only to see Pryor and Minnie combine for RMU's next 10 points to pull the Colonials within two.

With RMU down one, Matty McConnell stole a pass and raced in for what looked like an easy layup before Colter swooped in to block the shot out of bounds with just under two minutes left.

Pryor turned it over on the ensuing possession and TySean Powell was fouled and made both free throws to make it a 66-63 game with 1:49 left.

Pryor, who finished 5-of-9 from the arc, missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 44 seconds left and fouled Colter who made both to make it a five-point game.

Duquesne, which outrebounded RMU 59-33, pulled down two more missed shots which led to four more Colter free throws to ice the game.

There were four ties and one lead change early before Duquesne took a 15-12 lead on a Colter 3-pointer at the 12:25 mark. The Dukes built the lead to 10 on three occasions, the last coming on a TySean Powell free throw with 1:51 left. RMU scored the last five points to make it 35-30 at the half.

The Dukes limited Robert Morris to 37.7 percent shooting for the game.

Duquesne breaks for Christmas before heading to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Dec. 29 at 7:00 (ESPN3).

NOTES

• Duquesne's 10-2 start is its best since the 1979-80 team opened 10-2 ... DU is 7-0 at home also for the first time since 1979-80.

• This was the first time DU scored 70 or more against the Colonials since an 88-62 win on Dec. 28, 2008 ... the Dukes hadn't scored more than 69 in the six previous games vs. RMU (five losses).

• Duquesne's largest lead was 10 points, which it reached three times in the first half, the last coming at 35-25 with 1:31 left.

• Duquesne took the lead for good on a Derrick Colter 3-pointer that made it 15-12 with 12:25 left in the first half ... RMU tied it on a Minnie 3-pointer with 18:13 remaining, but could never gain the lead.

• Jeremiah Jones left the game with a right knee injury with 13:54 left in the first half ... he did not return.

• L.G. Gill tied his career high with 10 rebounds, TySean Powell had nine, Eric James had a career high eight, Darius Lewis had eight and Derrick Colter had seven ... DU's +26 rebound margin (59-33) was its largest since a plus 26 effort (54-28) in a win over New Orleans on Dec. 8, 2012.