In the first 1:54 of the game, Duquesne scored eight points, two of which were three-pointers, in defeating Howard 81-63 at the A.J. Palumbo Center Tuesday night. The Dukes never looked back.
Sophomore forward L.G. Gill led Duquesne in scoring 17 points and grabbing eight boards, followed by freshman forward TySean Powell, posting 13 points. Powell was 6-of-6 from the field and netted his lone free throw. In his first career start, he entered the game second in the nation with a .789 field goal percentage.
Howard’s James Daniel III, a sophomore guard known as James “J-Byrd,” led the Bison with 22 points.
The Dukes shot 52.5 percent from the field and were credited 22 assists, five of which belonged to junior guards Micah Mason and Jordan Stevens each.
The Bison shot 37.3 percent from the field and earned only four assists as a team.
Duquesne outscored Howard 12-0 off turnovers in the first half and 19-4 for the game. Howard had a total of 16 turnovers, three of which were in the first 2:31 of play.
Only 39 seconds into the game, Duquesne’s junior guard Derrick Colter knocked down a three-pointer, followed less than a minute later by Gill’s three-pointer. Gill scored a jumper on the next play.
The Dukes began a 7-0 run with 9:43 left in the first half, extending their lead to 24-14, the first double-digit lead in the wire-to-wire victory.
Duquesne led at the half, 41-30.
In the second half, Mason scored back-to-back three-pointers with 11:11 left, bringing the Dukes to a 60-47 lead.
Howard began a 5-0 run with 1:02 left in the game, however the effort came too late.
Howard’s sophomore forward James Miller added 14 points. Senior guard James Carlton earned the Bison 10 points and senior forward Jared Norsworthy netted seven points in the effort, each contributing seven and six boards, respectively.
This was the first wire-to-wire win for Duquesne since the team’s 88-69 victory over Texas-Pan American in December of last year.
The Dukes’ next game is Friday against Pitt in the 83rd annual City Game at the CONSOL Energy Center, 7:00 pm ET. The game will be carried live by ESPN3.
