Duquesne rallies past LaSalle to move to 4-0 in A-10

Duquesne 88, La Salle 71
Tom Gola Arena, Philadelphia, PA

Bill Clark, Damian Saunders, B.J. Monteiro, T.J. McConnell and Sean Johnson all scored in double digits as Duquesne downed La Salle 88-71 Wednesday night at Tom Gola Arena. The Dukes (12-5, 4-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) won their seventh straight game and set a school record for the best start ever in conference play by improving to 4-0 in A-10 competition.

All 12 of the Dukes' wins this season have come by double-digit margins, and the win over the Explorers (8-11, 0-4 A 10 Conference) gave them a clean 3-0 sweep over the A-10's Philadelphia schools. Duquesne defeated Saint Joseph's and Temple earlier this month.

Clark led the way for the Dukes, scoring 21 points and snatching eight rebounds while also registering five assists, four steals and three blocks. The senior was perfect from the line for the second straight game, converting all nine free throw attempts. Clark is now shooting 80.4 percent from the charity stripe this season, compared to 74 percent in 2009-2010.

He wasn't the only Duke to jam-pack the stat sheet. Saunders put up 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block. Monteiro scored 13, grabbed eight boards, three assists and three steals. McConnell also netted 13, chipping in five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Johnson had 10 points off the bench for the Dukes, while Eric Evans had nine and Joel Wright scored six while also getting five rebounds.

Duquesne, ranked fourth nationally in assists entering the game, assisted on 24 of their 34 field goals. The Dukes also took advantage of sloppy passes by La Salle, equaling a season-high with 17 steals. Overall, the Explorers turned the ball over 25 times, compared to 12 for Duquesne.

La Salle's Ruben Guillandeaux scored a game-high 24 points. The 6-6 guard, who received an extra year of eligibility after missing all but four games last year with a stress fracture in his right foot, sank six of seven 3-pointers. Jerrell Williams had 17 for the Explorers, but he turned the ball over 10 times on the night.

Those two were La Salle's only double-digit scorers. Freshman Tyreek Duren, whose Neumann-Goretti High team beat McConnell's Chartiers Valley club in last year's PIAA Class AAA state title game, had nine points. Aaric Murray, a 2010 A-10 All-Rookie team member, had six points and seven rebounds.

La Salle led by 11 at one point, after a Devon White dunk made it 40-31 Explorers with 7:23 left in the first half. Duquesne battled back to a 47-47 tie in the first half, and the score knotted again at 56-56 after Williams made a free throw for the home team with 15:16 remaining in the game. The Dukes pulled away with an 18-4 run, however, and never looked back.

TEAM STATS
FG%: DUQ 49.3, LAS 44.6
FT%: DUQ 70.8, LAS 45.5
3-PT: DUQ 18.8, LAS 44.4
RBS: DUQ 37, LAS 34

LEADERS
Scoring: DUQ- Clark 21; LAS- Guillandeaux 24
Rebounds: DUQ- Clark, Monteiro 8; LAS- Williams 10
Assists: DUQ- Clark 5; LAS- Duren, Mills, Williams 3
Blocks: DUQ- Clark 3; LAS- Murray 2

NEXT UP
Duquesne aims for eight straight W's when they host the UNC-Charlotte 49ers at 2 p.m. Saturday at the A.J. Palumbo Center. LaSalle, losers in eight of their last ten games, looks to get back on the winning path against Rhode Island at 2 p.m. on Saturday.