PITTSBURGH - Marcus Weathers scored a career high-tying 19 points and Eric Williams Jr. added 16 points and 12 rebounds as Duquesne (14-5, 5-1) extended its win streak to five with a 77-73 win over Saint Louis at the Palumbo Center.

The win upped the Dukes' record to 14-5, marking just the second time since 1979-80 that a DU team has 14 wins through 19 games. The start is the best since the 2010-11 team opened 16-5.

The loss was the first in seven games for Atlantic 10 preseason favorite Saint Louis (14-5, 5-1), which entered the game atop the conference standings.

Sincere Carry added 10 points, seven assists and three steals for the Dukes who shot 37.7 percent.

Javon Bess led SLU, which finished at 38.8 percent, with a game-high 24 points.

Duquesne took its first lead on a Michael Hughes hook shot on its first possession of the second half.

Carry hit a 3-pointer and Williams Jr. followed with a three-point play to give the Dukes a 46-40 lead.

Weathers, who went 11-of-13 from the foul line, hit a pair of free throws to make it 67-59 with 5:11 left.

Dion Wiley cut the lead to three on the Billikens' first 3-pointer - after 13 consecutive misses - with 4:23 to go.

Williams Jr. followed with a putback and Weathers, who had seven of his nine rebounds in the second half, corralled a Fred Thatch miss, was fouled, and hit a free throw to make it 70-64 at the 2:43 mark.

Saint Louis never got closer than four the rest of the way.

SLU led for all but one minute of a first half that ended with the Billikens up 36-35. The two teams were a combined 3-of-23 from 3-point in the opening 20 minutes.

Duquesne went 6-of-29 from 3-point compared to 2-of-20 for the Billikens.

SLU, which outrebounded DU 54-31, outscored the Dukes 29-15 in second chance points, while the Dukes, who forced 23 Saint Louis miscues, outscored the Billikens 25-11 off turnovers.

Duquesne hosts VCU (13-6, 4-2) on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (AT&T SportsNet/ESPN+) in the second of three consecutive home games. Saturday will be Alumni Day, as Dukes from the past will be honored at halftime. In addition, all-time great Norm Nixon will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony.

NOTES

• Duquesne's 14-5 start is its best since 2010-11 (16-5). This is just the second time since 1979-80 that a DU team has opened 14-5.
• It is also the first time since 2010-11 that Duquesne has won five consecutive conference games (the 2011 team opened 8-0 on the way to a 10-6 conference record).
• DU has now won its past four Atlantic 10 home games (vs. Saint Louis in the final game of last season followed by Fordham, Saint Joseph's & Saint Louis this year).
• Eric Williams Jr (16-12) posted his sixth double-double of the season and 17th of his career.
• Freshman Gavin Bizeau, who entered the game with five points in seven games, came off the bench to score seven points in eight minutes.
• There were two ties and one lead change … Saint Louis' largest lead was eight at 34-26 with 2:37 left in the first half …Duquesne's largest lead was eight at 67-59 with 4:59 to go … Duquesne took the lead for good on a Sincere Carry 3-pointer with 16:36 left ... Saint Louis led for 19:09 (all in the first half) … Duquesne led for 18:45 (all in the second half) … the game was tied for 1:55.