RICHMOND - VCU (14-7, 7-3) broke open a tight game with an 11-0 second-half run and held off Duquesne (6-14, 1-7), 71-62, on Saturday afternoon in Richmond, Va.

Tre Williams led the Dukes with a season-high 19 points.

Kevin Easley Jr. added 11 points and seven rebounds and Primo Spears had 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Dukes who came up short in their bid to win back-to-back games at Siegel Center.

Duquesne went up 40-35 on Tyson Acuff's third - and final - 3-pointer with 15:53 left, when Ace Baldwin ignited VCU's 11-0 run with a layup.

VCU went up 41-40 on a Jalen DeLoach dunk that sent Williams to the bench with his fourth foul with 14:09 left.

Marcus Tsohonis followed with a 3-pointer and DeLoach had another dunk forcing a DU timeout with the Dukes down 46-40 with 12:51 left.

Toby Okani ended VCU's run with a dunk to make it 46-42.

DU missed eight of nine shots before Spears hit a layup to make it 51-44.

Spears scored again to pull the Dukes within five.

Williams cut it to three on a layup off a pass from Spears.

It would be as close as the Dukes would get as Tsohonis hit a layup and another 3-pointer to make it 56-48.

Williams pulled the Dukes within four at 60-56, before Baldwin answered with a jumper give VCU a 62-56 lead  with 2:53 left.

A pair of Easley Jr. free throws cut it to 62-58 and Leon Ayers III had a chance to make it a three-point game, but missed the second of a one-and-one free throw attempt with 1:33 on the clock.

DU forced a Rams turnover but mishandled the ball, turning it back to the Rams after an official's review with 1:21 to go.

DU would get no closer than five the rest of the way.

Duquesne held the lead for 17:34 of the first half that ended with the Dukes up 30-29.

VCU outshot DU 43 percent to 34 percent.

The Rams outscored the Dukes 42-26 in the paint.

Duquesne will return to Pittsburgh before heading to Ohio to face Dayton on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 7:00 p.m. (Spectrum News 1/ESPN+).  

NOTES

• Tre Williams, despite being saddled with foul trouble, finished with a season high 19 points (9-of-13 from the field).
• This was the second straight start for the combination of Easley Jr., Williams, Okani, Acuff and Spears.
• The Dukes, who entered the game averaging 11.6 turnovers per game, finished with 19.
• VCU's largest lead was nine the last of which was the final margin ... Duquesne's largest lead was eight at 26-18 with 5:36 left in the first half ... there were three ties and five lead changes before VCU took the lead for good on a Jalen DeLoach dunk that made it 41-40 with 14:10 left ... VCU led for 15:47 ... Duquesne led for 22:46.