PITTSBURGH - Freshman Austin Rotroff and sophomore Eric Williams Jr. scored 17 points each to lead Duquesne (1-0) to a 84-70 season-opening win over William & Mary (1-1) in a Gotham Classic game at the Palumbo Center.

First-year transfer Michael Hughes added 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Freshman Sincere Carry had a game-high nine assists without a turnover for the Dukes who shot 62.1 percent in the second half.

William & Mary, which was led by Nathan Knight's 26 points and 11 rebounds, took a 40-38 lead - the Tribe's only of the game - on a Matt Milon jumper in the early moments of the second half.

The lead was short-lived as Mike Lewis II started a game-changing 20-4 run with a jumper in the lane. Carry followed with a layup as the Dukes got baskets from six players, making it 55-44 with under 12 minutes left. DU held the Tribe to 10 straight misses to start the run.

Duquesne, which hit 13 of its first 16 shots of the half, got 3-pointers from Tavian Dunn-Martin, Rotroff and Frankie Hughes to build its lead to 63-46 with 10:01 to go.

The Dukes made it a 20-point game on another Frankie Hughes 3-pointer with 9:27 left.

DU, which went 8-of-12 from the arc in the second half, maintained at least a 14-point lead the rest of the way.

Mike Lewis II, Dunn-Martin and Williams Jr. hit early 3-pointers in helping the Dukes jump out to a 12-2 lead. The lead reached 12 - at 31-19 - on another 3-pointer by Williams Jr., before the Tribe outscored the Dukes 14-5 over the final 5:09 to make it 36-33 at the half.

Duquesne, which outshot William & Mary 52.5 percent to 45.6 percent, finished 12-of-26 from the arc with Dunn-Martin and Rotroff with three 3-pointers each.

Williams Jr. led DU with eight rebounds. Rotroff joined Michael Hughes with seven boards.

Duquesne returns to action on Monday, November 12 when it hosts UIC in its second of four Gotham Classic match-ups. The DU vs. UIC game will be preceded by the Duquesne women vs. Mount St. Mary's at 5:00 p.m.


NOTES

• Duquesne is now 86-17 in season openers, including an 81-4 record when opening the season at home ... DU is 2-0 in openers under Keith Dambrot.
• Michael Hughes eclipsed his previous career high (6 vs. Adrian set as a freshman at Akron) with just over 11 minutes left in the first half ... Hughes, who finished with 13 points, added career highs in rebounds (7) and minutes (19) ... he also tied his career best with three steals.
• Sincere Carry's nine assists - in addition to being the most by a Dukes' freshman in a season opener - are the most by a DU freshman since Derrick Colter handed out 11 vs. Charlotte on Mar. 6, 2013 ... Carry did not have a turnover in 29 minutes.
• Rotroff's 17 points were the most by a DU freshman in a season-opener since Eric Williams Jr. had the same in last year's season-opening win over St. Francis Brooklyn.
• Duquesne opened with a lineup of sophomore Eric Williams Jr., sophomore Michael Hughes, sophomore Marcus Weathers, junior Mike Lewis II and freshman Sincere Carry ... it was the first game for Akron transfer Hughes in 600 days and first for Miami, Ohio transfer Weathers in 614 days ... Carry was the first freshman to start an opener since Lewis II and Isiaha Mike started the 2016-17 opener vs. Loyola, Md.
• Seven of the nine who played made their Duquesne debut: Weathers, M. Hughes, Carry, Dunn-Martin, Wade, F. Hughes and Rotroff.
• There were two ties and two lead changes before Duquesne took the lead for good on a Sincere Carry layup with 17:13 left in the second half ... William & Mary's largest lead was two at 40-38 with 17:42 left in the second half ... Duquesne's largest lead was 20, the last of which came at 77-57 with 6:59 to go.