Duquesne (6-8, 1-2) fell Saturday afternoon at the A.J. Palumbo Center to Rhode Island (11-3, 3-0) 61-60 in a Rams win that was cinched by two free throws with eight seconds remaining.
Rhode Island’s sophomore guard E.C. Matthews led his team with 18 points, scoring 13 of his points in the second half. Freshman guard Jared Terrell had nine points, including his game-winning two free throws.
Duquesne led from 9:58 in the first half until Matthews hit a 3-pointer with 1:14 left in play. The Dukes were led in scoring by junior guard Micah Mason with 18 points. Junior guard Derrick Colter contributed 15 points, while senior forward Dominique McKoy finished the game with 10 points. McKoy played at Rhode Island as a freshman under then-head coach Jim Baron in 2011-12. He earned his third double-digit game this season and his third in his past four games.
The Dukes held the Rams scoreless for nearly 4:30 of the first half before extending their lead to a 10-point advantage. Mason scored five points in the 7-0 run. A technical foul was called on Rhode Island head coach Dan Hurley with 14:22 remaining in the game, followed by a Rams 17-7 run, culminating with a Matthews 3-pointer that tied the game with 9:18 left. There were four ties and five lead changes in the game.
Duquesne’s junior guard Jeremiah Jones and Rhode Island’s freshman guard Jared Terrell both went for a loose ball with 8.3 seconds remaining when Jones was called for a foul, giving Terrell two free throw attempts, both of which he made.
Saturday’s game marks the seventh consecutive win at Pittsburgh for the Rams, whose last four games with the Dukes have been wins by two, one, five and one point. Duquesne’s last home win over Rhode Island was in 2001.
Colter hit 2-of-4 3-point attempts to bring his total season percentage to an impressive .552 (37-of-67). He entered the game leading the nation in 3-point shooting percentage.
Duquesne plays Saint Louis (8-8, 0-3) on Wednesday at 8:00 pm ET in St. Louis, Mo.
Photo credit: GoDuquesne.com
