PITTSBURGH - The trio of Tre Williams, Leon Ayers III and Primo Spears combined for 32 second half points to lead Duquesne (1-0) to a 73-61 win over Rider (0-1) at a raucous UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.

DU, playing in front of fans for the first time at its newly renovated on campus home, went 12-of-30 from the 3-point arc - with six players hitting at least one three, while holding to Broncs to a 2-of-16 effort from deep.

First-year TCU transfer Kevin Easley Jr. led a balanced Duquesne attack with 16 points. Williams, a first-year transfer from Indiana State, finished with 14 points three blocks and Leon Ayers III, a first-year transfer from Mercer, finished with 12 points and three steals.

Spears, a true freshman, had 14 points and seven assists in his first game as a Duke.

There were six ties and 17 lead changes before Williams hit a jump hook to give Duquesne a 53-51 lead with 8:36 left.

Easley's fourth - and final - 3-pointer made it 56-51 and forced a Rider timeout.

The Broncs cut it to four, before Spears ignited a 12-0 run with a 3-pointer.

Toby Okani, who finished with seven points, gave the Dukes their first double digit lead with a pair of free throws that made it 66-55 with 4;32 to go.

Spears then buried a 3-pointer and hit a driving layup to give the Dukes their largest lead at 71-55 with just over three minutes remaining.

There were 12 ties and two lead changes in a first half that ended with Rider up 33-30. Neither team lead by more than six in the opening 20 minutes.

Duquesne returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 13, when it hosts Hofstra at 7:00 p.m at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Hofstra game is the first of two in three days for the Dukes, who welcome Weber State on Monday at 7:00 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.


NOTES

• With the win, head coach Keith Dambrot moved to 22-4 in non-conference home games at Duquesne. The Dukes have won their past six non-league home games at four different venues (A.J. Palumbo Center, PPG Paints Arena, La Roche University and UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse).
• Duquesne, which is in its 106th season, is now 88-18 in opening games, including an 83-4 mark when opening the season at home.
• Tre Williams, who went 3-of-10 from the 3-point arc in two seasons at Indiana State, hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second half for the Dukes.
• Kevin Easley's four 3-pointers (4-of-8) were one shy of his career high reached twice while a freshman at Chattanooga.
• The Dukes went 13-of-13 from the foul line. It was DU's best performance from the stripe under Dambrot.
• DU's seven turnovers were one more than the Dambrot Era low.
• Ten Dukes saw action in the game's first nine minutes.
• Duquesne's largest lead was 16, at 71-55 with 2:53 left ... Rider's largest lead was four, the last of which came at 29-25 with 3:10 left in the first half ... there were six ties and 17 lead changes before Duquesne took the lead for good on a Williams jump hook with 8:36 left ... Duquesne led for 22:08 ... Rider led for 15:06.