WASHINGTON, D.C. - James Bishop's 3-pointer with 13 seconds left proved to be the difference as George Washington withstood a Duquesne second-half rally to defeat the Dukes, 75-73, and avoid a sweep of the weekend series in Washington D.C.

Marcus Weathers, whose driving shot in the lane fell short as time expired, led the Dukes with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Weathers scored 15 in the second half in helping the Dukes rally from an 11-point second-half deficit.  

Maceo Austin had 11 points, including a career high-tying three 3-pointers and Tavian Dunn-Martin added 10 points for the Dukes who outscored the Colonials 38-31 in the second half only to come up short.

Sincere Carry added eight points, a career high-tying eight rebounds and eight assists for the Dukes.

Jamison Battle led GW with a career-high 29 points, including six 3-pointers, while Bishop finished with 16.

GW hit five 3-pointers, including three from Battle, in the first nine-plus minutes in jumping our to a 26-16 lead.

The Colonials' lead reached 11 before Austin, who hit all three of his 3-pointers in the first half, and Austin Rotroff combined to score nine points in a 9-2 Dukes run that cut it to 33-29.

GW took advantage of 11 DU first half turnovers to build the lead back to 44-35 at the half. The Colonials outscored the Dukes 15-2 off miscues in the opening 20 minutes.

Weathers went to work down low, scoring seven points out of the break to help the Dukes cut the lead to 48-47 with 15:36 to go.

Battle answered with five in a row - including his fourth 3-pointer - to start a 7-1 run that made it 55-48.

DU then held the Colonials scoreless for over three minutes to battle back at tie it at 57-57 on three Dunn-Martin free throws.

Dunn-Martin completed a 14-5 run with a steal and layup to give DU its first lead since the 13-minute mark of the first half at 62-60 with 8:16 to go.

Neither team led by more than three the rest of the way.

Duquesne, which finished 10-of 23 from the foul line, missed five free throws over the last 7:41 which hurt its ability to build a cushion.

Carry hit one-of-two free throws with 47 seconds left to put DU up 73-72 prior to Bishop's game-winner.

Duquesne opens the home season vs. Davidson on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 7:00 p.m. at La Roche University.

Tuesday's game, which will be DU's latest home opener in 89 years, will be played without fans in attendance. The game will be televised nationally by CBSSN.
 
NOTES

• Weathers posted his 12th career double-double (first this season) with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Weathers scored 15 in the second half.
• Maceo Austin scored all 11 of his points in the first half. It was his first double-digit scoring game since he had 10 on Feb. 29, 2020 in a win over George Mason.
• Sincere Carry finished with eight points, rebounds and assists. He also added three steals. The eight boards tied his career high set last year at GW.
• Austin Rotroff's nine points (4-of-5 from the field) were his most since he scored a career-high 17 in the 2018-19 season opener vs. William & Mary (Rotroff's first game at Duquesne).
• Duquesne shot 46.7 percent to 46.4 percent for GW. The Colonials went 9-of-25 from the arc, while Duquesne went 7-of-21. The big difference was at the foul line where Duquesne went 10-of-23 to 14-of-18 for GW.
• Duquesne's largest lead was four at 14-10 with 13:43 left in the first half ... GW's largest lead was 12 at 44-32 with  0:57 left in the first half ... there were six ties and seven lead changes before GW took the lead for good on James Bishop's 3-pointer with 13 seconds left ... Duquesne led for 10:42 ... GW led for 27:13 ... the game was tied for 2:06.