PITTSBURGH - Obi Toppin scored 19 points and Ryan Mikesell added 17 as Dayton shot 53 percent to hold off Duquesne, 78-67, at Palumbo Center.

Eric Williams Jr. scored a game-high 21 to lead Duquesne, which finished the regular season with a school record-tying 10 Atlantic 10 wins. Michael Hughes scored 12 points and Sincere Carry finished with 10 points and eight assists for the Dukes, who shot 42 percent.

DU, the preseason pick to finish eleventh in the A-10, ended up tied for sixth and will take a No. 7 seed into the conference championship which begins at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on Wednesday.

Neither team led by more than six before a Jordan Davis 3-pointer gave Dayton a 35- 26 lead with just under three minutes left in the half.

Duquesne, which started 1-of-13 from 3-point missed seven of its last nine attempts of the half - including five from the arc, as UD took a 37-29 lead.

Dayton upped the lead to 47-35 early in the second half on five-straight points from Toppin.

Duquesne, which went 6-of-13 from the arc in the second half, got back-to-back 3-pointers from Williams Jr. and Lamar Norman Jr. to pull within four at 59-55 with 7:33 left.

Mikesell, who went 3-of-4 from the arc, hit a big 3-pointer out of the under eight media timeout and Toppin followed with a dunk to build the lead back to nine.

DU briefly cut it to six on Norman Jr.'s third 3-pointer with just under five minutes to go, but could get no closer as Davis hit another 3-pointer to give the Flyers a 75-65 lead at the 1:51 mark.

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

Duquesne opens Atlantic 10 Championship play on Thursday vs. No. 10 seed Saint Joseph's at 6:00 p.m. Thursday's Championship games will air on NBCSN.

NOTES

• With his eight assists, Sincere Carry (156) tied Derrick Colter for second on DU's all-time freshman assist list. The record of 163 was set by Clayton Adams in 1988.
• DU, the preseason pick to finish 11th, ended up tied for sixth in the Atlantic 10. The Dukes tied the school record with 10 conference wins (10-8).
• Duquesne finished 14-5 at home. The 14 wins were the most in the 31-year history of the Palumbo Center. DU's 27 home wins over the past two seasons (13-6 last year) are the most home wins in back-to-back seasons since 1972 (16-1) and 1973 (12-1).
• There were four ties and two lead changes … Dayton's largest lead was 13, at 78-65, with six seconds left ... Duquesne's largest lead was one, at 8-7, with 14:48 left in the first half … Dayton led for 36:54 … Duquesne led for 0:46 … the game was tied for 2:20.