RICHMOND, VA - Duquesne, in its first game in nearly three weeks, rallied from a 14-point second half deficit to take a late lead, but couldn't hold on in a 79-72 defeat at Richmond (12-5, 5-3).

Michael Hughes scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to lead the Dukes (7-7, 6-6). Marcus Weathers and Chad Baker added 12 points each for DU, which took a 70-69 lead on a Weathers bucket with 1:59 to go.

The loss snapped a three-game win streak for Duquesne, which had been idle since a 69-64 win over Dayton on Feb. 2.

Richmond's Jacob Gilyard, who finished with 17 points, tracked down a loose ball and hit a 3-pointer from deep in the corner to put the Spiders up two at the 1:30 mark.

Hughes tied it at 72-72 on a put back off a Weathers miss with :57 left, before Gilyard answered with a pair of free throws.

Weathers then missed a contested baseline jumper and Blake Francis, who also scored 17 points, gave UR a 76-72 lead on a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left.

Baker missed a deep 3-point attempt from the right wing and Gilyard tossed in an uncontested 3-pointer at the horn for the final margin.

Richmond, which shot 65 percent in the first half, hit 11 of its first 17 shots in jumping out to a 28-13 lead.

A Grant Golden bucket allowed UR to match its largest lead at 30-15 with just over six minutes left in the half.

The Dukes, who opened the game 0-of-5 from the arc, got back-to-back 3-pointers from Tavian Dunn-Martin and Baker to cut it to 11.

Dunn-Martin, who finished with eight points and four assists, added another three to cut it to 40-33 at the half.

The Spiders scored the first seven points out of the break to up the lead to 14, when Hughes collided with Weathers and briefly left the game.

The Dukes trailed by 12 when Hughes came back and ignited a 7-0 run with a dunk and layup sandwiched around a Baker three-point play to make it 53-48 with 12-plus minutes left.

Duquesne heads to Philadelphia to face La Salle on Wed., Feb. 24 (ESPN+), before returning home to close out the regular season vs. Rhode Island (ESPN+) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Sat., Feb. 27.
 
NOTES

• Michael Hughes, who entered the game with  double-doubles in four of his last five games, finished with a game-high 20 points (including four dunks) and nine rebounds. Hughes, who scored 16 in the second half added four steals. The four steals were one shy of his career high. It was his fifth career 20-point game, first this year.
• With his two 3-pointers made, Tavian Dunn-Martin took sole possession of eighth on DU's career 3-pointers made list with 142.
• Freshman Andre Harris scored a career high 10 points in 20 minutes off the bench.
• Swingman Maceo Austin made his first appearance since Jan. 5 vs. Davidson.
• Duquesne's largest lead was one, the last of which came at 70-69 with 1:31 left ... Richmond's largest lead was 15 the last of which came at 30-15 with 5:41 left in the first half ... there were five ties and seven lead changes before Richmond took the lead for good on a Gilyard 3-pointer with 1:30 left ... Duquesne led for 1:51 ... Richmond led for 35:46.