Dec. 7, 2002

Box Score

Mount St. Mary's held Duquesne to two field goals over a 8:32 span of the second half in pulling away for a 77-63 win at the Palumbo Center.

Duquesne's Kevin Forney hit a jump shot with 12:55 to go to cut the Mountaineer lead to 50-48, before Mount St. Mary's put the clamps on defensively. Pat Antangana and Charles Cook combined to score eight of MSM's next 11 points with Antangana's layup giving the Mount a 61-50 lead with 6:41 to go. Duquesne cut the advantage to six with 2:41 left before MSM's Landy Thompson ran the shot clock under five seconds before drilling a 3-pointer for a 68-59 advantage. The final 14-point margin was Mount St. Mary's largest lead of the game.

Jamion Christian led four Mountaineers in double figures with 20 points, while Ron Dokes paced Duquesne with 21. Although both teams finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field, Mount St. Mary's 58.8 percent second half, combined with Duquesne's 0-of-11 effort from the three-point arc in the second 20 minutes proved to be the difference.

Duquesne led by as many as seven mid-way through the first half before MSM, behind 14 points from Christian, rallied to cut the lead to three at the half. Duquesne's Jimmy Tricco hit 3-of-4 3-pointers for 11 points before a hard fall forced him from the game with 6:10 left in the first half. He returned to play 17 minutes in the second half, finishing the game with 14 points. Atangana scored all 13 of his points in the second half for Mount St. Mary's. Thompson finished with 18.

NOTES:

• The loss extended Duquesne's losing streak to four games

• MSM hit 22-of-29 from the free throw line, including 18-of-25 in the second half

• DU's starting backcourt of Kevin Forney and Jimmy Tricco combined for 10 turnovers in 56 minutes
  
  
• The Dukes played without starting forward Elijah Palmer who was held out with tendinitis in his left knee.

QUOTES:

Duquesne head coach Danny Nee: