PITTSBURGH - Mike Lewis II scored a game-high 16 points, as Duquesne (7-3) extended its win streak to five with a 74-58 win over North Carolina A&T (6-5) in a Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic opening round game at the Palumbo Center.

Rene Castro-Caneddy scored all of his 15 points in the second half and Tarin Smith added 14 points for the Dukes, whose win streak is its longest since 2013-14.

Freshman Eric Williams Jr. finished with eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Dukes, who outrebounded the Aggies 41-29.

Lewis II hit his first four shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, to stake the Dukes to a 16-8 lead.

Lewis II's third 3-pointer gave Duquesne a 26-13 lead as North Carolina A&T turned it over 11 times in the game's first 14 minutes.

The Dukes, behind 13 points from Lewis II, led 34-24 at the half.

N.C. A&T hit four free throws on one possession following a foul and technical foul on DU head coach Keith Dambrot to cut it to nine, before the Dukes answered with a 10-2 run to go up 50-33.

Castro-Caneddy and Smith hit 3-pointers during the run.

Duquesne maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

DU turned 20 offensive rebounds, including seven from Williams Jr. and six from Chas Brown, into 21 second-chance points.

The Dukes finished with eight 3-pointers, including three each from Lewis II and Castro-Caneddy.

Duquesne continues play in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic with a home game vs. Lamar on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 7:00 p.m. The Dukes will head to Las Vegas Wednesday morning to prepare for neutral-site games vs. San Francisco and Southern Illinois on Dec. 22 & 23 at Orleans Arena.
 

NOTES

• Duquesne's five-game win streak is the school's longest since a five-game streak in 2013-14 (Dec. 17 through Jan. 8).
• Keith Dambrot is the first Duquesne coach to open his first season 7-3 since John Cinicola in 1974-75.
• North Carolina A&T's Femi Olujobi, who entered the game as the nation's third-leading scorer at 23.4 ppg., was held to 13.
• Tarin Smith, who went 11-of-52 from 3-point in 32 games last season, is 13-of-25 from the arc in his past five games.
• Freshman Eric Williams Jr., who has had at least eight rebounds in every game, finished with eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds ... it was Williams Jr.'s sixth double-digit rebound game.
• Duquesne's largest lead was 19 at 72-53 with 1:49 left ... North Carolina A&T never led ... Duquesne led for 38:09 and the game was tied for 1:51 ... Duquesne has led for 184:54 of a possible 200 minutes in its past five games.