Jan. 2, 2008

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, OHIO -- Reggie Jackson scored 19 points and Kojo Mensah added 18 as Duquesne (10-3) completed the non-conference portion of its schedule by extending its win streak to four with a 96-78 victory at Bowling Green (5-7).

With the win, the Dukes matched last year's total (10-19). It is the earliest a Duquesne team has won 10 games since 1953-54 when DU posted victory No. 10 on Dec. 30.

The win, which was the first by a Duquesne team at BGSU since 1955, was also DU's first in a Mid-American Conference arena since a 76-75 overtime win at Akron on Dec. 31, 1995 - ending a streak of nine consecutive losses.

Duquesne, which never trailed, saw its lead cut to six on a pair of Chris Knight free throws with just under five minutes left. Mensah then buried a 3-pointer from the left wing and Aaron Jackson followed with a jumper off a missed Reggie Jackson free throw to push the DU lead to 11 at 76-65. BGSU briefly cut the lead to nine before Aaron Jackson scored again, this time off a pass from Mensah, to give the Dukes a double-digit lead they maintained for the remainder of the game.

Duquesne hit 16-of-20 free throw attempts over the final 2:32 as Bowling Green tried to extend the game by fouling. The 18-point margin at the final horn was DU's largest of the game.

"The thing I liked most was that we closed it out the right way," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart who evened his career record at 194-194. "We made our free throws, took care of the basketball and got some rebounds down the stretch. We kind of turned it around against their zone in the second half and our guards were the reason. They got the ball inside and were very patient."

Duquesne scored a Bowling Green opponent-high 96 points - including 60 in the second half - against a defense that entered the game surrendering 66.4 points per game and holding opponents to a MAC low 39.3 field goal percentage. DU shot 47.5 percent from the field, went 32-of-45 from the foul line and assisted on 22 of 28 field goals.

Duquesne which had started sluggishly in its past five games, jumped out to an early 15-4 lead. Bowling Green, behind the scoring of 6-9, 280-pound Chris Polk - who tallied 11 of his career-high 17 in the first 20 minutes - cut the lead to 36-32 at the half.

Bowling Green trailed by four with 13:41 to go before the Dukes went on a 9-0 run capped by a Damian Saunders dunk that made it 57-44 at the 11:46 mark.

BGSU battled back to within six before Mensah hit his only 3-pointer of the game with 4:40 left.

Saunders, Mensah, Reggie Jackson and Bill Clark had three steals each as the Dukes finished with a season-high 16. Kieron Achara blocked a season-high four shots for Duquesne. Aaron Jackson and Achara added 12 points each for the Dukes.

Duquesne opens Atlantic 10 play at home on Wednesday, Jan. 9 against Fordham (6-6, 0-0).

NOTES

• Duquesne's 10-3 start is the best since the 1979-80 NIT team opened with a 12-3 record.
• This was DU's first win at BGSU since Feb. 5, 1955. Bowling Green had won the past six in a row at home against the Dukes.
• This was Duquesne's first win on the road against a MAC school since a 76-75 (OT) win at Akron on Dec. 31, 1995. DU had lost nine in a row in MAC arenas.
• With the win, the Dukes matched last season's win total (10-19).
• This is the earliest a DU team has won 10 games since 1953-54 when the Dukes posted victory No. 10 on Dec. 30.
• The win evened head coach Ron Everhart's career record at 194-194 in 14 seasons.
• DU's 16 steals tied the sixth-highest total in school history. It was the most since 16 steals in an overtime win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Dec. 31, 2002.