PITTSBURGH - Duquesne continued its best start in 48 years with a hard-fought 58-56 overtime victory over Fordham at PPG Paints Arena. The win, which was the Dukes fifth in a row to open conference play, upped the team's overall record to 15-2 which is the program's best start since the 1971-72 team opened with the same mark.  

Lamar Norman Jr. hit a career-high six 3-pointers in tying his career scoring high with 20 points to lead DU, whose 5-0 Atlantic 10 start is the second-best in school history.

Duquesne took a 51-44 lead on a Marcus Weathers free throw before Fordham, which went 11-of-27 from the arc, got a 3-pointer from Ty Perry - his fourth - to make it 51-49 with just over one minute left.

The Rams, who gained possession on a held ball, tied it on a Onyi Eyisi layup.

Sincere Carry drove and threw an errant pass giving Fordham the ball at midcourt with 4.6 seconds left.

Jalen Cobb's eight-foot runner was off the mark at the end of regulation.

Duquesne took a 56-53 lead in overtime on a Baylee Steele layup before Perry, who finished with 17 points, tied it on his fifth and final 3-pointer with 40 seconds left.

Steele hit a free throw and Carry added another following a Fordham turnover with three seconds left. The Rams were not able to get off a shot as time expired.

Fordham, which led 30-27 at the half, briefly led by six early in the second half before Norman Jr. made it 36-33 on his sixth 3-pointer with just under 17 minutes remaining.

Neither team scored for the next 6:56 before Michael Hughes wrestled away a rebound and dunked it to cut the lead to one. Hughes was assessed a technical foul on the play resulting in a Rams free throw that made it 37-35.

Duquesne took its first lead since the waning moments of the first half on a Hughes three-point play that made it 38-37 with 9:37 left.

Marcus Weathers, who finished with 10 rebounds, scored seven of his eight points in the final 5:10 of regulation for the Dukes. Steele added eight points and seven rebounds and Hughes finished with seven points and four blocks.

The Dukes are idle until embarking on a two-game road trip that takes them to Rhode Island on Wednesday, Jan. 22 (ESPN+) and UMass on Saturday, Jan. 25 (ESPN+).

NOTES

• Tonight's win was the 50th at Duquesne for third-year head coach Keith Dambrot. Only two DU coaches - Chick Davies (314-106 from 1925-43; '47-48) and Dudey Moore (191-70 from 1949-58) reached the 50-win mark quicker. Moore did it in 61 games and Davies in 67. This was the 81st game for Dambrot who is now 50-31.
• DU's 15-2 start is the school's best since 1971-72 (15-2).
• Duquesne's 5-0 conference record is the school's second-best in 43 Atlantic 10 seasons, second-only to an 8-0 start in 2010-11.
• DU's six-game A-10 win streak is the second-longest in school history (second to the 2010-11 team).
• Sophomore Lamar Norman Jr., who went 6-of-10 from the arc in tying his career high with 20 points, hit four 3-pointers in the game's first eight minutes. His previous career high for 3-pointers in a game was four, accomplished three times (vs. Saint Joe's in the 2019 A-10 Championship last). Norman is the sixth Duke to score 20 or more in a game this season.
• Junior Marcus Weathers, who finished with eight points and 10 rebounds, saw his double-digit scoring streak snapped at nine games.
• Duquesne assisted on 17 of its 19 field goals.
• Both teams had more 3-point field goals than two-point field goals.
• Fordham's largest lead was six, the last of which came at 36-30 with 16:57 left in the game ... Duquesne's largest lead was nine at 18-9 with 9:23 left in the first half ... there were seven ties and 14 lead changes before Duquesne took the lead for good on Baylee Steele's free throw with 21 seconds left in overtime ... Duquesne led for 22:14 ... Fordham led for 15:10.