March 17, 2010 | AP Press

PRINCETON, NJ - Douglas Davis came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points, including 10 during a 17-3 run to end the first half, as Princeton (21-8) advanced to the quarterfinal round of the College Basketball Invitational with a 65-51 win over Duquesne (16-16) at Jadwin Gym.

Kareem Maddox added 15 points and Ian Hummer added 14 for the Tigers who moved to 11-3 at home.

Damian Saunders led Duquesne with 14 points. B.J. Monteiro and Sean Johnson added 10 each.

Duquesne jumped out to a 20-11 lead as Princeton missed its first seven shots. Davis, who scored 13 in the first half, hit the first of three 3-pointers in the final 7:46 of the half to ignite Princeton’s 17-3 run. Duquesne, which shot 37 percent for the game, missed eight of its last nine shots as the Tigers took a 28-23 lead at the half.

DU briefly cut it to one on a Melquan Bolding layup a little over two minutes into the second half, before Princeton answered with a 15-3 run to take a 43-30 lead with 11:31 to go. Maddox, who was 6-of-10 from the field, scored eight points and assisted on another basket during the run.

Princeton maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

The Tigers outrebounded the Dukes 41-26.

“I didn’t think we guarded with the intensity we needed in the middle of the second half,” said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. “They beat us to quite a few loose balls. The biggest key was Princeton on the glass. They out-toughed us.”

Princeton, which shot 52 percent in the second half, finished at 47.1 percent. The Tigers went 4-of-14 from the 3-point arc with Davis accounting for all four makes.

“We’ve got several issues,” said Everhart. “Two issues that are obvious are that we just didn’t shoot the ball well this year – even from the free throw line – and that makes everything more difficult. When you can’t loosen a defense up by making shots, and you miss your free throws, you have trouble.”

Duquesne was 1-of-13 from the 3-point arc before Johnson hit 2-of-3 in the game’s closing minutes. The Dukes, who entered the game shooting 60.8 percent from the foul line, hit just 8-of-18 free throw attempts.

AP Press

March 12, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Damian Saunders had 20 points to lead Duquesne to a 78-74 win over Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 tournament on Thursday.

Bill Clark finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Aaron Jackson added 17 points for the Dukes (20-11), who advanced to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 1994.

Jimmy Baron had eight 3-pointers and finished with 26 points for the Rams (22-10), while Kahiem Seawright had 13 points and Keith Cothran and Will Martell each scored 10.

The teams traded baskets for most of the game, which saw 13 ties and seven lead changes. But Duquesne finally went ahead for good on Clark’s 3-pointer with 3:30 left, which gave his team a 72-69 lead.

AP Photo

March 7, 2009 | AP Press

DAYTON, Ohio — Luke Fabrizius scored a career-high 17 points and Dayton set a school record with its 25th regular-season win, beating Duquesne 74-61 on Saturday night.

Chris Wright added 11 points and Charles Little 10 for the Flyers (25-6, 11-5 Atlantic 10). They finished the year 18-0 at the University of Dayton Arena, the first time they had ever accomplished that feat.

Aaron Jackson had 16 points and Bill Clark and B.J. Monteiro each had 12 for Duquesne (18-11, 9-7), which watched the Flyers hit 65 percent of their shots in the first half to build a 49-36 lead and never trail again.

Dayton clinched a tie for second in the Atlantic 10, but will be the No. 3 seed in next week’s conference tournament.

The Flyers also set a school record for attendance, celebrating by going up into the stands after the game to slap high fives with their fans.

AP Photo

March 4, 2009 by Josh Taylor | A10CollegeHoops

PITTSBURGH, PA. — For the second year in a row, Duquesne hosted Saint Louis at the A.J. Palumbo Center for their season home finale, and just like the previous meeting, the Dukes walked away with a win. A strong second half by sophomore forward Bill Clark and a clutch performance by senior guard Aaron Jackson helped the Dukes secure a 70-68 victory over the Billikens.

Jackson, in his last scheduled home game of his career, scored 23 points, including the final 11 for Duquesne, with five rebounds and seven assists. Clark scored 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including 17 in the second half.

Duquesne started out with Jackson in his customary role as the team’s catalyst, scoring on a layup and then assisting on one by Melquan Bolding to go out to an early 4-0 lead. Saint Louis finally got on the board with two layups by Kwamain Mitchell, and then a three-pointer by Kevin Lisch gave them their first lead, 7-6. Lisch scored 10 in the first half and tied Jackson for the game high.

Duquesne regained the lead, and then freshman guard Eric Evans went on a run of his own, scoring six straight points for the Dukes and scoring 10 in the half. His layup with 8:44 remaining in the half put the Dukes up, 16-13.

“We realized the mismatch on Eric,” Jackson said. “We knew right away that it’s hard for them to guard him off the dribble, and he established that early in the game. He played a heck of a game for us.”

Saint Louis eventually cut Duquesne’s lead to one, but Evans’ three-pointer with 2:09 remaining extended it back to four. He then made one of two free throw attempts to put the Dukes up, 27-22, with 58 seconds to go.

“I thought Eric Evans was big for us at times,” Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said, “and I thought Bolding was big for us at times early in the game.”

After that, it was Lisch’s turn to respond, hitting a three of his own to make it 27-25 with 36 seconds left.

“We’re not going to miss him anymore, I’ll tell you that.” a smiling Everhart said of Lisch, who tied a career high with six made from behind the arc. “He’s a hell of a player.”

Duquesne was in position to take the final shot of the half, but a turnover by Bolding led to a last-second layup by Mitchell and a foul on freshman forward Oliver Lewinson. But Mitchell’s chance for a three-point play and the lead didn’t go in, and the two teams went into the half tied at 27.

The second half started with a reprise of how the first ended, alternating three-point shots by Evans and Lisch. But then Bill Clark knocked down his first of five threes on the night to put Duquesne up, 33-20. Saint Louis took a 36-35 lead on a layup by Barry Eberhardt, but Clark knowcked down another three and gave the Dukes the lead back.

“It was big for us,” Everhart said of Clark’s second half. “The only guy that has defended Billy Clark this year is Billy Clark. I hope that he can continue to keep his composure and play in our upcoming games the way he played in the second half because he was huge for us.”

“I said, ‘let me shoot as many shots as I can before I foul out,’” Clark said, tongue-in-cheek about his late surge. “I think, as everyone in here knows, I’m good at fouling, and the refs pretty much hate me, regardless, at home. So I figure I might as well get as many shots as I can before I foul out, and I ended the game with four fouls. Mission accomplished.”

Clark’s third three with 11:42 remaining put Duquesne up by seven, but then Saint Louis went on a 20-9 run over the next 7:35 to take the lead back. Lisch’s two free throws with 4:09 remaining gave the Billikens a 60-53 lead.

Duquesne struck back with an 11-4 run, including Clark’s last two three-pointers and five straight points by Jackson to tie the game at 64 with 1:43 left. Jackson then hit six straight free throws after Eberhardt converted one of two to put Duquesne ahead, 70-65.

During that run, Lisch missed two attempts from behind the arc in the last 33 seconds to keep the Billikens close. His last attempt missed with five seconds left, and Jackson pulled down the rebound, helping to stave off the late-game threat.

“We told our guys in the timeout exactly what they were going to do,” Everhart said of Duquesne’s expectation for Lisch to get the ball. “I kind of rolled the dice telling our guys that because I didn’t know for sure that’s what they were going to do, but they did and Damian [Saunders] was right on it. I thought he really got out quick enough and got high enough to bother his shot, but with Lisch, he’s capable of making that.”

Jackson was fouled after the rebound, and stood at the line with a chance to put the game out of reach. He hit both free throws from the double bonus and sealed it for the Dukes. Duquesne then called a 30-second timout, and after the break, the Duquesne fans gave a standing ovation, chanting, “AA-RON! AA-RON!”

“It was a really cool feeling,” Jackson said about the end of the game. “I try not to get too emotional. The crowd, knowing it’s my last game ever, is probably something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Mitchell’s long three-pointer from half court counted at the buzzer, but it would only count to cut the final gap to two points. The game had already been won, and the victors held their veteran leader at the heart of it.

“It’s his last home game, so you feel you want to win,” Clark said. “I’d say this game is for Aaron; not for ourselves, but for Aaron.”

For the senior who endured a 3-24 season as a freshman and a horrific campus shooting that wounded him and four of his teammates as a sophomore, Jackson was able to look fondly upon ending his career as a contributor to back-to-back winning seasons at Duquesne for the first time since the 1980-81 season.

“When you look at Duquesne on the A-10 schedule, you don’t say, ‘Oh, here’s Duquesne, this is a guaranteed win,’” Jackson said. “When you play Duquesne, it’s like, ‘We’re going to have to give them our best shot.’ Words cannot express how happy I am to be a part of this new era of the Duquesne Dukes.”

“I talked to our kids before we walked out of the locker room tonight, and I said to them, ‘this is the last game this guy is going to play in this arena,’” Everhart said. “‘Make sure this is a night he’s going to remember the right way, not the wrong way because someday he’s going to have to tell his kids what happened the last night you played in your gym.’ I’m very excited they were able to do that.”

Both teams will close out the regular season Saturday, with Duquesne visiting Dayton and Saint Louis hosting LaSalle. The Atlantic 10 Championships will commence on March 11 in Atlantic City.

March 1, 2009 by Josh Taylor | A10CollegeHoops

PITTSBURGH, PA. — If there was ever any doubt about Aaron Jackson’s legitimacy as an elite college basketball player, perhaps one of his best efforts to remove it came over the weekend against Rhode Island. Jackson led all scorers with 24 points and added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals in a heroic effort that fell just short in the final seconds of a 73-71 loss.

On a Sunday afternoon where Duquesne honored their starting point guard, along with teammate Phillip Fayne for Senior Day at the A.J. Palumbo Center, Jackson helped get the Dukes started early with a back-door bounce pass to freshman Melquan Bolding for a slam dunk just 36 seconds into the game to put them on the board. From that point on, it was understood that it was going to be one of those days where the crowd was in for a good show.

After two early three-pointers by Jimmy Baron helped give Rhode Island a 10-4 lead, Jackson helped lead a string of three consecutive baskets with another baseline feed to Bolding for a reverse layup, and then a layup of his own to bring Duquesne within two. Bill Clark’s floater inside the paint with 16:16 remaining tied the game at 10.

Afterward came a battle between the two teams that saw four lead changes and five ties through the duration of the half. Keith Cothran’s dunk following a rebound off a Delroy James miss put Rhode Island ahead, 32-27, with 4:04 to go. Cothran scored 13 of his 20 points in the first half, shooting 6-of-9 from the floor.

But then Duquesne answered with a 7-0 run, capped off by a Damian Saunders three-pointer from the top of the circle to give them a 34-32 lead with 3:02 remaining. The 6-foot-7 sophomore forward was faced with the difficult task of defending 7-foot center Will Martell, but he held him to only four points, recording four blocked shots and three steals to go with his 12 points and six rebounds. Also, the Dukes held the scoring edge in the paint, 38-34, as Saunders and Clark combined for 33 points.

“Damian and Billy are playing as well as we could ask them to,” Everhart said of his two sophomore starting forwards, who have been forced to play against bigger opponents due to the Dukes’ lack of size in the front court. “Of course there are games when Damian can play better and there are days when I just want to choke Billy, but I have no problem with the effort they have given.”

After Rhode Island guard Marquis Jones’ layup helped tie the game for the Rams on their ensuing possession, Duquesne rattled off another string of three unanswered baskets to close out the half. The Dukes’ freshman led the way, as two B.J. Monteiro free throws and a pair of Bolding jumpers — the latter of which came from the right baseline with two seconds left — closed out the half with the home team ahead, 40-34.

In the second half, Duquesne worked quickly to build on their lead as Bolding hit a three pointer at about two minutes in to put the Dukes ahead, 45-38. He shot 6-for-8 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from behind the arc for 16 points, along with six rebounds.

Rhode Island quickly responded with a layup by Jones and another three-pointer from Baron – he made four of his eight attempts behind the arc – to pull the Rams within two. But Bolding struck again with his second three pointer, Saunders added another from the left corner, and Duquesne was back up by six at 15:54.

Over the next two and a half minutes, Rhode Island went on a 15-3 run, including five points by Baron, six by Kahiem Seawright, and a steal by Jones for a layup that had the Rams ahead, 60-54 with 11:33 to go. Baron, a former prep school teammate of Jackson’s, finished with 14 points, and Seawright scored 24, with 17 coming in the second half.

Duquesne began to chip away at the lead, with Jackson leading the charge. He scored 16 of the Dukes’ final 20 points, and his jumper with 2:01 remaining tied the game at 66. Two free throws by Seawright moments later put Rhode Island ahead by two.

But it was James — the younger brother of former Duquesne forward and season blocked shot record holder Shawn James — that delivered what Everhart called, “the biggest shot of the game.” His driving, left-handed hook shot off the glass with 1:11 remaining put the Rams up, 70-66, seemingly putting the game out of reach.

However, Jackson and his mates refused to concede, as he forced a steal off Baron and scored on a layup with 36 seconds to go to pull back within two. Seawright responded with a power move inside for a slam and a four-point Rams’ lead that became five when Cothran converted one of two free throw attempts.

Jackson then let the ensuing inbound pass bounce to half court before picking it up, pulling up at the top of the key and draining a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two with only six seconds to go. Seawright then missed the first of a one-and-one bonus free throw attempt, rebounded by Saunders and giving Duquesne a chance to tie the game or win it with five seconds left.

“I was thinking, this is our chance to win the game,” Jackson said.

Jones, with two Rams’ team fouls to give, made a heady veteran move and fouled immediately to force Duquesne to inbound from the far end of the court with three seconds left. Then, on the ensuing inbound play, he fouled again to force another inbound with 1.5 seconds to go.

Jackson got the inbound pass and got in position to shoot the potential game-winner from the top of the circle, but his three-point attempt fell short, and so did Duquesne’s comeback hopes. 

“We tried to run a back-door screen play for Damian or [Jason] Duty,” Everhart explained, “but they guarded it pretty well and Aaron cut in between them. If we would’ve had another timeout, we probably would’ve used it and tried to do something else.”

Trailing Temple by one game in the A-10 standings, Duquesne has a meeting Wednesday against St. Louis in their home finale and a March 7 meeting with Dayton, needing to likely win both games in order to finish in fourth place and secure a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

“We tried to get the win today, but we didn’t, so we have to look towards the next game,” Jackson said. “We want to win these last two games and get that bye, so we’re going to get to practicing to get there.”

February 25, 2009 | AP Press

AMHERST, Mass. – Bill Clark’s 22 points led five Duquesne players in double figures as the Dukes defeated Massachusetts 94-77 Wednesday night.

Duquesne (17-9, 8-5 Atlantic 10 Conference) finished the first half on a 15-4 run to take a 46-35 lead at the break. Massachusetts made a late surge and cut its deficit to 10 on a Gary Correia’s 3-pointer with just under six minutes left, but never got closer.

Damian Saunders added 18 points and seven rebounds for Duquesne, while Aaron Jackson had 17 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Eric Evans scored 14 points and Jason Duty had 10, rounding out double-digit scorers.

Anthony Gurley led Massachusetts (10-16, 5-8 A-10) with 18 points off the bench, Ricky Harris added 14 points and Matt Glass had 12.

The 94 points were the most Massachusetts surrendered this season. The Minutemen lost despite hitting 16 3-pointers, breaking their record for threes in a game.

Jason Duty tries to pass against Temple's zone (Photo courtesy: Stacy Gault)

February 15, 2009 by Josh Taylor | A10CollegeHoops  

When considering Duquesne’s last three games, including their upset victory over then ninth-ranked Xavier on February 7, the constant trend is the Dukes have had a hard time maintaining leads and finishing games.

That was the recurring sentiment among the team after falling to Temple, 78-73, in a Sunday matinee at the A.J. Palumbo Center in which they led by as much as eight points midway through the first half. They held the Owls’ talented senior guard, Dionte Christmas, to 15 points on 4-of-15 shooting, but could not overcome a late second-half collapse, combined with the clutch shooting of Ryan Brooks and freshman Juan Fernandez.

“I thought our kids really did a great job on Christmas today,” Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart said at the postgame press conference, “and I thought our game plan worked out really, really well. It was unfortunate because they got a lot of production out of the other two [guard] spots.”

Temple got out to an early 9-5 lead in the first half, but then Duquesne scored seven consecutive points on a three-point play by Bill Clark, a steal and breakaway slam by Damian Saunders, and a pair of free throws by Aaron Jackson to make it 12-9. 

The Dukes maintained the lead through the end of the half, but missed a handful of opportunities to extend it, and an 18-7 run by the Owls in the last seven minutes of the half put Duquesne up by only one at the break, despite 11 points from Saunders and 10 from Jackson.

“When we have a lead, we need to take decent shots because we could have been up by 10 or 12 at halftime,” said Jackson, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “But we took poor shots and we didn’t shoot the ball as well.”

The second half was no more promising, as Christmas knocked down a three-pointer and a jump shot to put Temple up by four within the first two minutes. But Duquesne responded with a 9-0 run, capped off on a no-look pass from B.J. Monteiro to a cutting Saunders for a layup with 15:40 remaining.

After four ties and seven lead-changes in the second half, Temple took a 62-58 lead on a Brooks three-pointer. He shot 3-for-4 from behind the arc and finished with 11 points. Clark, the Dukes’ top outside shooter, second in the conference in three-point percentage, answered with a three of his own, and Duquesne was back within one.

The next three possessions for the Dukes would embody the struggles they have faced in their last three contests, including going nearly the final eight minutes in the win over Xavier without a field goal. Freshman point guard Eric Evans missed two open three-point attempts, and then Jackson missed on a driving layup opportunity. Two layups by 6′9″ sophomore Lavoy Allen sandwiched around a made free throw, plus two free throws by Christmas gave Temple the seven-point surge they needed to grab a firm hold on the lead and keep it the rest of the way.

“We had three straight possessions where Evans missed two wide open three’s — and I mean they were wide open,” Everhart said, “and then Jackson comes down the lane, and that same layup that he made against [George Washington] and against Charlotte… he missed it.

“Those three possessions really hurt us because they had the dribble-drive with Allen, and Christmas got fouled on the dribble-drive and made two free throws.”

A layup by Jackson, followed by two free throws and another pair from Clark cut the deficit to four, but a nice spin and layup on a post-up move by Fernandez on Jason Duty broke the Dukes’ back with 41 seconds left. An Argentina native having enrolled in only December, Fernandez shot 7-of-9, including 2-for-4 from three-point range for 19 points, and his performance was not lost on the host team.

“I was impressed watching him a couple of weeks ago,” Jackson said of Fernandez. “I saw him on TV and I thought he was going to be a really good point guard in this league. He runs the team really well, he’s a phenomenal passer, and he’s really poised to be a freshman.”

Sophomore forwards Bill Clark and Damian Saunders have had to assume veteran roles due to Duquesne's young roster (Photo courtesy: Stacy Gault)

Speaking of youth, Everhart refused to blame the loss on his roster’s lack of experience. Having eight scholarship freshman and only one scholarship upperclassman, Duquesne has one of the youngest rosters in the country based on average age.

“I wish we had better depth, especially up front,” Everhart said, “but we have what we have. I think Clark and Saunders are giving us everything they’ve got, but in our backcourt, we’ve got to have one of our guards step up off the bench and be more productive for us.”

“It’s always tough when you get a loss, or you’re going on a two-game losing streak, but I think it’s just that we’ve got to come together, have a meeting or something, and get everybody on the same page,” Saunders said. “We have guys going off, being wild, and trying to play their game, but it’s really a team effort.”

The Dukes have five games remaining on their schedule, including a week off before visiting LaSalle and Massachusetts in a three-day span. One win in those last five games will secure a winning season for the Dukes, the second in Everhart’s three years as head coach and the program’s first consecutive winning run since the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons.

“I know it’s getting old, but we’ve got to learn from our mistakes,” Jackson said. “We need to just dig in and say, ‘enough is enough.’ We’ve got to start pulling out these wins.”

February 7, 2009 by Josh Taylor | A10CollegeHoops

PITTSBURGH, PA — Duquesne faced perhaps the most difficult task in their conference schedule as they hosted #9-ranked Xavier Saturday night at the A.J. Palumbo Center. But the home crowd was ready for what was promoted by their student section, “The Red and Blue Crew” as the “Game of the Year.”

The entire section donned red t-shirts, and helped set the tone for a packed house and a revved-up crowd, hoping to “Red Out” the Musketeers. The Dukes, similarly dressed in their red alternate uniforms, came ready to meet the challenge as they defeated the Musketeers, 72-68, completing their biggest upset win since an 88-87 victory against Providence (also ranked ninth) on January 31, 1974.

Duquesne jumped out to an early 12-7 lead following senior point guard Aaron Jackson’s breakaway slam with 15:19 to go in the first half. The Dukes’ lone upperclass scholarship player struck again about three minutes later with a drive for a lay-up to put them ahead 24-10.

Xavier took over the momentum as they went on a 14-4 run over the next 7:05 to cut the lead to only four points. During that span, both Duquesne sophomore swingman Bill Clark and freshman guard Eric Evans missed the front ends of 1-and-1 bonus free throws.

But Duquesne exploded for 10 unanswered points, capped off by another Jackson lay-up with 2:58 left in the half to put them ahead, 42-28.

“We knew our mismatch would cause some problems for them,” Jackson said, “and we knew we could get some easy buckets, run the floor and out-run them.”

When the dust settled from a frantic first half, Duquesne had a 15-point lead, and 26 combined points from Jackson, Clark, and freshman Melquan Bolding. Duquesne shot 81 percent from the floor in the first half, including 8-of-11 from three-point range, while Xavier struggled at only 41 percent.

“I just can’t say ‘thank you’ enough for the type of environment,” Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart said of the fans, “cause our kids really did feed off that tonight. I thought we borrowed a lot of energy and enthusiasm from the crowd, and when we started making shots early in the game and that crowd got loud, it was about as good a college basketball environment as you could imagine.”

Xavier forward Derrick Brown finished the game with 15 points, the majority from free throws, and guard B.J. Raymond shot 6-of-15 for 18 points.

The second half started with a 10-3 Xavier run to make it 48-40 less than five minutes in, but back-to-back three-pointers by Duquesne slowed down another rally as the score stretched out to 54-40 with 12:25 remaining.

The small Xavier following was silenced and greeted with cheers of, “Why so quiet?” by the Red and Blue Crew.

Jason Duty’s second three-pointer of the half put Duquesne ahead, 59-48 with 9:06 remaining. Duty, a junior walk-on guard who entered the game second in the conference in three-point percentage, finished with ten points (hitting two of five from behind the arc) and four assists.

Xavier continued to chip away at the lead, getting a few times to within five, and down to three with ten seconds remaining, but Duquesne kept their composure and answered whenever Xavier challenged to make a run to take the lead. Even as the Dukes went the final seven-plus minutes of the game without a field goal, they continued to knock down critical free throws down the stretch to keep the Musketeers within arm’s length.

As Jackson was fouled after a rebound on a missed free throw by Terrell Holloway with about 30 seconds left, the crowd exploded as the Dukes walked down the floor for a bonus free throw opportunity. On his way to the lower block, a small, wry grin creeped onto Clark’s face.

Duquesne was within arm’s reach of pulling off perhaps their biggest upset in 35 years, but they refused to get too high before the final horn sounded. After a late Xavier timeout, junior guard Jason Duty exulted the crowd in celebration, but Jackson waved his arms up and down at his teammates, settling them down.

“Not yet,” Jackson admonished.

When Clark hit the first of two foul shots with three seconds left to put Duquesne ahead 72-68, Clark clapped his hands in satisfaction.

“We’re going home, boys,” Clark said.

After Clark’s second attempt missed, he made a persistent effort to knock the rebound around the floor while the final seconds ticked away, and students begain mounting the railings on the stands and as the final horn sounded. Jackson, the veteran presence and emotional leader for the Dukes, led all scorers with 21 points and added five rebounds and three assists.

Fans came pouring onto the court, as Clark, who finished with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting (including a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc), pulled off his jersey and ran around the court waving it over his head. The big upset was complete.

“Obviously it was a big win for our basketball program, and I think it was one our kids deserve,” Everhart said. “They’ve been working extremely hard, and they played very hard tonight against the team that in every way is a top-10 basketball team in the country.”

For Jackson, who endured through a 3-24 season and survived the entire overhaul of a coaching staff after his freshman year, and a tragic event where he and four of his teammates were wounded in an on-campus shooting in his sophomore year, to win such a big game as a senior immediately etched a special place in his heart.

“We brought something really special back to the Bluff,” he said, “and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Knowing that there is much more left in the season, Jackson said he planned to celebrate for the rest of the night, then rehab the next day and get back to work Monday.

“It’s something special,” he said. “It’s extraordinary. If the season were to end right now, I’d be a happy man, but unfortunately, I get to keep on playing basketball.”

February 4, 2009 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS, MO — Kevin Lisch scored 21 points to lead Saint Louis over Duquesne 78-74 in overtime Wednesday night.

Tommie Liddell III added 13 points and Willie Reed scored 12 for the Billikens (13-9, 4-4 Atlantic 10), who hit only 7-of-15 free throws in the second half but made 7-of-8 in the extra period.

Duquesne’s Aaron Jackson scored 29 points, including a long jumper at the first buzzer that tied the game at 63. Officials looked at a replay and ruled Jackson was just inside the 3-point arc.

Damien Saunders added 14 points and Bill Clark contributed 13 for the Dukes (14-7, 5-3) before fouling out.

Saint Louis led 62-54 with 2:35 remaining in regulation but couldn’t hold the lead.

January 31, 2009 | AP Press

PITTSBURGH, PA – Aaron Jackson scored 19 points and Duquesne capitalized on 31 turnovers to rally past St. Bonaventure 74-68 Saturday.

Bill Clark scored 17 points, Eric Evans added 14 and Damian Saunders 11 for Duquesne (14-6, 5-2 Atlantic 10), which is off to its best overall and conference start since the 1980-81 season.

The 1981 Dukes opened 14-6 and 5-2 on the way to a 20-10 record and 10-3 finish, which was good enough for a tie for the Eastern 8 title.

Andrew Nicholson shot 13-for-18 and finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds for St. Bonaventure (12-9, 2-6), which committed three crucial turnovers in the final 2:30. Chris Matthews added 12 points, and Jonathan Hall had 12 rebounds and 11 points.

The Bonnies led by a point, 40-39, at the break and held a five-point lead, 63-58, with 5:29 remaining.

Duquesne went on a 8-3 run to tie the score at 66 with 3:15 left, and the teams tied again at 68 with 2:07 remaining before the Dukes broke loose.

Evans dropped in a layup, Saunders added two free throws, and Evans added another pair in Duquesne’s decisive 6-0 run in the final minutes.