PHILADELPHIA - Duquesne (6-11, 1-4) rallied from a 16-point first half deficit to take a second half lead, but couldn't hold on as Saint Joseph's (9-10, 3-5) closed the game with a 16-7 run to defeat the Dukes, 72-61, on Wednesday night in Philadelphia

Freshman guards Jackie Johnson III and Primo Spears led the Dukes with 19 and 12 points respectively. Leon Ayers III added 11 for DU.

Saint Joseph's hit its first six 3-point attempts in building a 20-12 lead.

Duquesne cut it to three before the Hawks responded with an 15-2 run to go up 36-20.

Tyson Acuff ended a three-plus minute drought with a foul line jumper and Ayers III followed with a dunk to cut it to 12.

Spears hit a 3-pointer at the horn to make it 38-27 at the half.

Johnson III scored seven points in under four minutes to help the Dukes cut it to five with just over 16 minutes left.

Kevin Easley Jr. then converted a conventional three-point play to make it 43-41.

Johnson III gave DU its first lead since 3-0 on a deep 3-pointer that made it 44-43 with 10:50 left.

There was one tie and four lead changes, with neither team leading by more than three until a Jordan Hall three-point play gave the Hawks a 59-54 lead.

SJU's Erik Reynolds hit a 3-pointer and Ejike Obinna followed with a bucket and dunk to make it 66-56, as the Dukes misfired on seven of eight shots.

Obinna got free for another dunk following a timeout to give Saint Joe's a 12-point advantage.

The Hawks, who went 12-of-26 from 3-point, outshot the Dukes 46 percent to 41 percent.

DU, behind a 4-of-5 effort from Johnson III, was 8-of-14 from 3-point.

Duquesne returns home for games vs. Saint Louis (2:00 p.m. Saturday) and Richmond (7:00 p.m. Tuesday) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Both games will air on ESPN+.  


NOTES

• Jackie Johnson III went 4-of-5 from 3-point in scoring 19 points. The four 3-pointers tied his career high set in a 27-point effort vs. Weber State on Nov. 15.
• Duquesne's four assists on 24 field goals tied its lowest total in the Dambrot Era (set vs. Southern Illinois on Dec. 23, 2017).
• Duquesne, which entered the game averaging 11.3 turnovers per game, turned it over eight times in the first half. DU turned it over just three times in the second half.
• Saint Joseph's largest lead was 16, at 36-20 with 2:06 left in the first half ... Duquesne's largest lead was three, the last of which was at 46-43 with 12:59 left ... there were two ties and seven lead changes before SJU took the lead for good on a Taylor Funk 3-pointer that made it 56-54 with 8:30 left ... Saint Joseph's led for 34:05 ... Duquesne led for 4:32.