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PITTSBURGH - Duquesne, in its first game since its nationally covered 30-hour bus trip, got a career high-tying 27 points from Derrick Colter and double-doubles from Micah Mason and Eric James to defeat La Salle 87-60 at Palumbo Center.

The victory was the fourth in five games for the Dukes, who moved to 14-7 overall and 4-4 in the Atlantic 10.

La Salle dropped to 5-13 overall and 1-6 in conference play.

Colter, a cancer survivor who was recognized prior to the game along with fellow survivor assistant coach John Rhodes as part of Coaches vs. Cancer week, scored 20 in the second half to help the Dukes outscore the Explorers 55-34 in the second 20 minutes.

"We got some of the rust off early then we got into a rhythm and then we got the game to be our game," said Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry of the Dukes who endured a 30-hour ride back from its win at George Mason on Friday. "We just kept pushing and pushing and pushing to try to wear them down."

Mason finished with 14 points and a career-high 10 assists and James added 11 points and a career-high 15 boards for the Dukes who held La Salle to 30 percent shooting.

There were six ties and six lead changes - with neither team leading by more than four - before Mason broke the last tie with a jumper to give Duquesne a 20-18 lead at the 7:42 mark. TySean Powell followed a James bucket with a layup to put the Dukes up 30-24 with 2:39 left.

An L.G. Gill dunk gave the Dukes a 32-26 halftime lead.

It was a three-point game just over four minutes into the second half before Gill started a 10-2 run with a 3-pointer.

The Dukes, who shot 46 percent, hit 11-straight shots over a seven minute span to turn a 14-point lead into a 29-point advantage with one minute left.

Duquesne, which outrebounded La Salle 54-37, assisted on 21 of 32 field goals.

"I told our guys that was a better win than what some people might think because of the total contrasting styles," said Ferry of the Explorers, who played primarily five players and routinely ran the shot clock under 15 before starting its offense. "We wanted to get the game to our tempo - we didn't want to play slow."

The Dukes, led by Mason's four 3-pointers, finished 13-of-30 from the arc.

Duquesne heads to St. Louis to face Saint Louis University on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 6:00 p.m. (ET) on ASN.

NOTES
• The 27-point margin of victory tied Duquesne's seventh-largest in an Atlantic 10 game ... it was DU's largest margin in an A-10 game since a 27-point (85-58) win over Saint Louis on Mar. 8, 2008.

• The victory, in addition to ending a five-game series losing streak, was DU's largest over the Explorers since a series-best 31-point victory (89-58) on Jan. 19, 1964 ... DU's 87 points were the most scored against La Salle this season since Miami scored 95 in a 95-49 win over the Explorers on Dec. 13.

• With the victory, the Dukes eclipsed their highest win total under fourth-year head coach Jim Ferry (13-17 in 2013-14) ... the Dukes, who opened A-10 play 0-3, evened their conference record at 4-4.

• This was the 112th career start for Derrick Colter ... only one player, Damian Saunders (116) has started more games in a Duquesne uniform... Colter, who finished with a career high-tying 27 points and 3 assists, passed Rick Suder to move into the No. 13 spot in DU's all-time scorers' list with 1,462 points ... he is fourth on the all-time assist list with 454.

• Micah Mason scored 14 points to bring his career total to 1,138 ... Mason, who played his freshman season at Drake, has scored 976 points as a Duke.