McCANDLESS, PA - Duquesne roared back from a 15-point second-half deficit to defeat Rhode Island, 71-69, at Kerr Fitness Center on the campus of La Roche University on Wednesday night.

Freshman Chad Baker led the Dukes (4-5, 3-4), who trailed by as many as 17 late in the first half, with 19 points, including 5-of-5 from 3-point.

Michael Hughes scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half and added 10 rebounds and three blocks for the Dukes, who erased a double-digit deficit to win for the 14th time under fourth-year head coach Keith Dambrot.

Marcus Weathers added 12 points for DU which snapped a two-game losing streak.

Makhel Mitchell led Rhode Island (7-8, 4-4) with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Duquesne, which shot a season-best 50 percent - including 65 percent in the second half - took its first lead since 19-18 on a Hughes bucket that made it 66-65 with 5:23 left.

There were three lead changes, with neither team leading by more that one point, before Ryan Murphy hit an 18-footer - his lone field goal of the game - to give Duquesne a 70-69 lead.

Tavian Dunn-Martin, who scored all nine of his points in the second half, hit one of two free throws with 17 seconds left to make it a two-point game.

URI's Fatts Russell drove it and missed, before Rhody's Jeremy Sheppard rebounded the ball and kicked to D.J. Johnson on the left wing, but Johnson's 3-point attempt was off line as the horn sounded.

Duquesne put the clamps on in the second half, holding the Rams to 33 percent shooting (38 percent for the game).

Neither team led by more than four until Rhode Island put together a 12-0 run to turn a 19-18 deficit into a 30-19 lead. DU turned it over four times and missed four shots during the run which was fueled by five points from Sheppard.

The Dukes, who went 3-of-14 after taking their 19-18 lead, missed six-straight shots before Baker hit his third 3-pointer to make it 33-23 with 4:50 left.

URI took its largest lead at 44-27 on a D.J. Johnson 3-pointer, before the Dukes closed the half with four-straight points to cut the deficit to 44-31.

Duquesne, which trailed 50-35 with 17:28 left,  battled back to cut it to 62-56 when Weathers was fouled on a dunk and converted the three-point play. Weathers followed with a steal and coast-to-coast dunk that made it 62-58 with just over eight minutes left.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Baker and Dunn-Martin tied it at 64-64.

In a schedule change announced earlier today, Duquesne will host St. Bonaventure on Sat., Jan. 23 at 7:00 p.m. at La Roche (ESPN+). The return matchup between the two was moved from March 3. The Dukes were originally scheduled to be idle prior to their Wed., Jan. 27 game at  Fordham.
 
NOTES

• The Dukes erased a 17-point first-half deficit (44-27), and 15-point deficit (50-35) with 17:28 left. It was the 14th time Duquesne has come back from a double-digit deficit to win under Keith Dambrot, with all 14 coming over the past three seasons. DU trailed by double digits in the second half in 10 of the comebacks. The Dukes, who were 1-10 when trailing at the half in Dambrot's first season, are 15-18 when trailing at the half over the past three seasons.
• With his two 3-pointers, Tavian Dunn-Martin passed Jimmy Tricco (134) to move into the 10th spot on DU's career 3-pointers made list. Dunn-Martin (135 3-pointers) needs two more to pass Kenya Hunter (136) and take over the ninth spot.
• Freshman Chad Baker hit three of his five 3-pointers in the first half in scoring a career-high 19 points. Baker's previous high was eight vs. Fordham on Jan. 9. Baker, who went 6-of-7 from the field, including 5-of-5 from the arc, added five assists and three steals with just one turnover in 34 minutes.
• Baker's 5-of-5 effort from the arc was the best by a Duke in the Keith Dambrot Era. It was the best percentage by a Duquesne player since Isiaha Mike went 5-of-5 from 3-point vs. UMass on Feb. 15, 2017 (Mike, who was a freshman at the time, scored 23 points in that game).
• Fellow freshman Andre Harris added seven points and three assists in 18 minutes off the bench for the Dukes.
• Eleven players saw action for the Duquesne. Head coach Keith Dambrot has used at least 10 players in all nine games this season.
• Duquesne is now 38-4 under Keith Dambrot when it is the first to reach 70 points in a game. The Dukes are also 39-9 under Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points.
• Duquesne's largest lead was four, the last of which came at 10-6 with 16:18 left in the first half ... Rhode Island's largest lead was 17 at 44-27 with 0:33 left in the first half ... there were five ties and 11 lead changes before Duquesne took the lead for good on a Ryan Murphy jumper that made it 70-69 with 1:02 left ... Duquesne led for 5:30 ... Rhode Island led for 32:30.