Duquesne tops George Mason in weather-impacted road game

Eric James had nine rebounds and TySean Powell added a career-high four blocks in the win which was the 300th for Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry. The victory also enabled the Dukes (13-7, 3-4) to match their highest single-season win total under the fourth-year coach.

Jaire Grayer led five George Mason players in double figures with 17 points. Marquise Moore added 16 rebounds for the Patriots who dropped to 7-13 overall and 1-6 in the A-10.

The game was moved up a day due to a winter storm that hit the Mid-Atlantic region of the country Friday afternoon.

"We shot the heck out of it early and that showed a lot of mental toughness," said Ferry. "I give our guys a lot of credit to pull out a win under some unusual circumstances on the road."

DU got 17 points from Gill - including five 3-pointers - in jumping out to a 45-31 halftime lead.

The Dukes took their largest lead on a Mason 3-pointer that made it 52-35 with just over 17 minutes left.

George Mason answered with a 13-0 run fueled by a trio of 3-pointers to make it 52-48 with 13:01 to go.

GMU cut it to four again on a pair of Moore free throws before Mar'Qywell Jackson hit his second 3-pointer in as many attempts to give the Dukes a 59-51 lead.

DU scored its final 11 points from the line as George Mason began fouling with just over two minutes left.

The Dukes, led by Colter's 14-of-17 effort, went 28-of-41 from the line - including 20-of-30 in the second half.

"I thought we really defended well," said Ferry of the Dukes who held the Patriots to .347 shooting. "We made our free throws and made some big plays down the stretch."

Duquesne, which shot .479, finished 12-of-28 from the 3-point arc. The 12 makes - including five from Gill and four from Mason - were their most since 16 in a win over UMBC on Dec. 8.

Duquesne, which has been on the road since Tuesday afternoon, returns home to face La Salle on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 7:00 p.m. on ASN.