WASHINGTON, D.C. - Duquesne (6-24), down seven with 31 seconds left, cut to one in the waning moments, but couldn't close the gap in falling to Rhode Island (15-15), 85-76, in the First Round of the 2022 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at the Capital One Center in Washington D.C.

The loss was the 17th in a row for the Dukes, who were led by freshman Primo Spears' game-high 30 points.

Kevin Easley Jr. scored a season-high 20 and Jackie Johnson III added 13 for the Dukes.

Rhode Island matched the largest lead by either team when Jeremy Sheppard hit a pair of free throws to make it 77-70 with 31 seconds left.

Spears, who was coming off a career-high 34 point game on Saturday vs. La Salle, hit a pair of free throws to become the first freshman in school history to score 30 or more in back-to-back games.

Easley Jr. followed with a traditional three-point play to make it 77-75 with 13 seconds left.

Sheppard then hit one of two free throws setting up a Johnson III drive that cut it to one with :06.4 on the clock.

Sheppard again made one of two, but the missed free throw was tipped to the corner, where Davis Larson tracked it down.

Larson got the ball to Tyson Acuff who launched a shot from near half court that grazed the bottom of the net at the final horn.

Spears scored 17 in the first half in helping the Dukes to a 41-37 lead.

DU outscored URI 16-0 of turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

The Dukes, who turned it over twice in the first half, had three in the first 4:30 of the second as URI put together a 8-0 run to take a 51-46 lead.

Spears scored five-straight for Duquesne to tie it at 63-63, before Makhi Mitchell hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Rams up three - it was a lead URI would never surrender.

The Dukes went over four minutes without a field goal as Rhode Island built a 72-65 lead.

Spears, who finished with five assists, found Easley Jr. for a 3-pointer to end the drought and pull DU within four at 72-68.

Duquesne turned it over, but Spears came up with a steal on the inbound but was unable to convert with just over one minute left.

Rhody scored the next three to take a seven-point lead.

NOTES

• Spears finished with 30 points to become the first freshman in school history to post back-to-back 30-point games (he had a DU freshman record-tying 34 in the regular-season finale vs. La Salle).
• Spears also became just the fifth freshman in school history to lead the team in scoring (12.7 ppg.). Spears 381 points are the seventh-most ever by a DU freshman. The Hartford, Conn. native finished the year with games of 25 (at GW), 34 (vs. La Salle) and 30 points.
• Kevin Easley Jr. went 8-of-12 from the field in posting a season-high 20 points. He added seven rebounds and four steals in 37 minutes.
• Duquesne shot 48 percent to 49 percent for Rhode Island. The Rams went 10-of-20 from 3-point, while the Dukes converted 6-of-21.
• Duquesne forced 19 turnovers and turned it over just eight times. DU outscored URI 21-8 off turnovers.
• DU's 41 first-half points were a season high. The 41-37 halftime lead was Duquesne's first since 30-29 at VCU on Feb.5.
• Rhode Island's largest lead was seven, the last of which came at 77-70 with :28 left ... Duquesne's largest lead was also seven, the last of which came at 34-27 with 4:11 remaining in the first half .... there were three ties and five lead change before Makhi Mitchell gave URI the lead for good at 63-60 on a 3-pointer with 5:38 left ... Rhode Island led for 17:52 ... Duquesne led for 19:46.