Pittsburgh, Pa. – No. 24 Saint Louis held off a frantic rally by the Duquesne University men's basketball team Tuesday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse to post its 12th consecutive win, 81-77. The Dukes slipped to 10-9 (.526) overall during the 2025-26 campaign, including 2-4 (.333) in the Atlantic 10.
 
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Quentin Jones hit the front end of a pair of free throws with just over a minute to play to give the Billikens a 78-70 lead, but Duquesne sparked a furious comeback to close to within 78-77 with 28 seconds to go. Senior guard Tarence Guinyard hit a pair of free throws, and after Brady Dunlap was called for an offensive foul, junior guard Jimmie Williams buried a three-pointer to close the Dukes to within 78-75. On the ensuing inbound, a bad pass by SLU (18-1 | 6-0 Atlantic 10) led to a turnover, and Williams found a streaking David Dixon in the paint, who provided a flush with 28.2 seconds to go to make it a one-point game. Dunlap was then fouled and hit a pair at the stripe to give the Billikens an 80-77 edge, and Duquesne had a chance, but a three-pointer from the wing by Williams was strong. Dion Brown would bury the second of two opportunities at the stripe to seal the win for Saint Louis.
 
RUNAROUND
Leading, 40-38, at halftime, Saint Louis used a 19-4 run in the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second half to grab its biggest lead of the contest, 59-42. Amari McCottry ignited the surge with a pair of driving layups, and he scored at the rim again with 14:06 remaining to give the Billikens a 57-42 advantage. Dion Brown would follow and force Duquesne to call timeout with a layup. Out of the break the Dukes responded, using a 12-3 burst to close to within 60-54 with 9:52 left. Williams scored six points during the run and led all scorers in the contest with a career-high 28 points while also tallying seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.   
 
QUOTABLE
"The team is smart enough and responsible enough to understand where we had the lapse," head coach Dru Joyce III said. "We didn't come with the right fight or energy to start the second half. What we really have to do as players is understand possessions. Win the possession. That's where the fight is. In the possession. I think we lost track of that. We didn't make shots early on in that half, and it brought our energy down. Our guys know better than to let that affect them. We had some good opportunities right in front of the basket. We didn't finish them around the rim to the level that I know we're capable of, but we've got be able to sustain enough on defense to get back and get a stop."
 
BALANCED BILLIKENS
Brown would help Saint Louis stem the tide with a pair of baskets, including a dunk with 8:39 to play that again pushed the lead for the Billikens back to double digits, and his layup just over two minutes later gave SLU a 72-58 lead. Duquesne slowly chipped away, closing to within 77-70 after a three-point play from Guinyard at the 3:42 to mark to set up the frantic final minutes of regulation. Five players scored in double figures for Saint Louis, including 14 each from Brown, Trey Green and Robbie Avila, who added six assists and five steals. Guinyard was the only other member of the Dukes to score in double figures, finishing with 14 while also notching three assists and four steals.
 
QUOTABLE
"You take your wins and your losses, and there has to be lessons in all of them," Joyce III said. "We're challenging teams each and every night. It's tough to lose, but as a staff we have to have an outlook on this thing. There are some good things we did tonight, and we have to take those and keep applying and reinforcing some of the habits. We keep reminding guys. Then, how can we grow in certain situations? How can we be stronger defensively? How can we be more poised and take better care of the basketball? If you want to be a player in this league, you have to be tough defensively. We understand what our outlook needs to be. We've made some gains."
 
NOTES
The contest featured five ties and eight lead changes … Duquesne held a 42-38 cushion in rebounding, including a 17-9 edge on the offensive glass … In the paint Saint Louis owned a 36-28 edge … Dixon finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and a season-high four blocks … Off the bench forward John Hugley IV scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds … The last two games against the Billikens have been decided by six points in an all-time series that is tied, 19-19 … The biggest lead for the Dukes came at the 4:53 mark of the first half, 33-28 … Duquesne slipped to 0-3 this season in games decided by five points or less and 2-6 in contests decided by seven points or fewer … Guinyard finished 7-for-10 at the free-throw line and, as a team, the Dukes closed at 23-for-31 (74.2%) … The Dukes also dropped a four-point decision to Saint Louis, 76-72, the last time Duquesne hosted a ranked opponent on campus, which came two days shy of 12 years ago (January 22, 2014) … The Billikens entered that game ranked 19th according to the Associated Press.
 
UP NEXT
Duquesne travels to Chicago, Ill., for a 2:00 p.m. ET tip against Loyola Chicago at Gentile Arena Saturday, Jan. 24.
 
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