Box Score

ATLANTA - Adam Smith scored 17 points - including two big second-half 3-pointers - and Marcus Georges-Hunt added 20 to lead Georgia Tech (10-3) to a 73-67 win over Duquesne (10-3) at McCamish Pavilion.

Micah Mason scored 17 points - including five 3-pointers - and Eric James added 11 points and 11 rebounds in his first career start to lead Duquesne, which saw its four-game win streak snapped.

Mason scored 14 in the first half, including his fourth 3-pointer with 19 seconds left, to give the Dukes a 36-35 halftime lead.

The Dukes, who led for all but two minutes of the first half, broke the seventh tie of the game on a James layup with 8:25 left to take a 56-54 lead.

DU would go scoreless for the next six minutes as the Yellow Jackets put together a 12-0 run started by back-to-back Smith 3-pointers. A Smith jumper at the 3:09 mark gave Tech a 66-56 lead, before L.G. Gill ended the drought with a jumper with 2:25 left.

The Dukes, who shot 35.3 percent in the second half, missed five consecutive shots - including two each by Gill and Derrick Colter - and a pair of free throws, during Georgia Tech's run.

"In the end, I thought they wore us down," said Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry. "We had a stretch there where we missed four or five shots in a row - that were open shots with our better shooters taking them.

"Those back-to-back three's by Smith really hurt us."

DU cut the lead to 72-67 on a Josh Steel 3-pointer with 15 seconds left, but could get no closer.

Georges-Hunt hit five free throws in the final 1:12 to provide the Yellow Jackets with a cushion. Duquesne finished at 39.1 percent.

Georgia Tech, which shot 40.7 percent, was 13-of-27 in the second half.

The Dukes, who had three more field goals than the Yellow Jackets, were outscored 17-4 from the foul line.

"Our guys fought hard, but I think we got a little run down, and that's a credit to them," said Ferry.

Duquesne opens Atlantic 10 play at home on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 2:30 p.m. vs. preseason conference favorite Dayton. The game will be televised nationally by NBCSN.

NOTES

• Duquesne will enter conference play with a 10-3 record ... it is the program's best record at the start of league play since the 2007-08 team also started 10-3 (the `08 team finished 17-13).

• Eric James had 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in his first career start ... James took the place of injured forward Jeremiah Jones (season-ending ACL injury suffered in DU's pervious game, vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 19) ... Jones had streaks of 103 consecutive games and 84 straight starts snapped.

• Micah Mason finished 5-of-10 from the 3-point arc in scoring a team-high 17 points for the Dukes ... it was Mason's 11th career game with five or more 3-pointers (second this year).

• Guard Derrick Colter went 4-of-17 from the field, including 0-of-5 from 3-point ... Colter had hit at least one 3-pointer in DU's 14 previous games ... Colter and L.G. Gill (1-of-6) were a combined 1-of-11 from the arc.

• Duquesne, which was up 36-35 at the half, is now 9-1 when leading at the half this season.

• The Dukes outscored the Yellow Jackets 34-24 in the paint and 23-9 in fast break points .. DU went 4-of-10 from the foul line, while GT finished 17-of-25.

• Duquesne's largest lead was nine points (26-17) with 9:20 left in the first half ... Georgia Tech's largest lead was 12 (72-60) with 43 seconds left.