Dukes Open Canadian Tour With a 92-60 Win

TORONTO - Duquesne, led by Shawn James's 17 points and 12 rebounds, opened its four-game Canadian Tour in impressive fashion by running and pressing its way to a 92-60 win over the University of Toronto on Saturday.

Box Score

Northeastern transfer Shawn James, making his first appearance as a Duke, led all scorers with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Reggie Jackson went 7-of-7 from the field in adding 16 for Duquesne. James, NCAAs leading shot-blocker in 2005-06, rejected four shots and added a game-high 12 rebounds in 20 minutes of action.

Duquesne smothered the Varsity Blues early by hitting a 3-pointer and converting back-to-back steals into layups in the game's first 32 seconds to force an early Toronto timeout.

The Dukes were never challenged the rest of the way.

"I felt our effort was pretty good," said second-year Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "I felt like we defended in the half court as well as we did all of last season. We did a very good job of putting pressure on the ball and challenging shots. Having Shawn back there helped a lot with that. He was very active defensively and he changed quite a few shots. He also rebounded it pretty well. Seventeen and 12 in 20 minutes is pretty good."

James showed his versatility in scoring on a 3-pointer, a dunk and a left-handed layup - following a behind-the-back dribble that started at the top of the key - in scoring 13 to help the Dukes to a 45-33 lead at the half.

Reggie Jackson scored 13 of his 16 in the second 20 minutes. Kojo Mensah, who finished with 14 points, scored nine in the second half. Gary Tucker was the fourth Duke in double figures with 11 points.

"Kojo is the prototype of a point guard," said Everhart. "He gets us into our offense and has the ability to go by people and either score or find the open man. I also think Reggie Jackson came in and did a very good job for us."

Toronto, which lost to Oral Roberts 76-74 in overtime earlier in the day, shot 33.3 percent and turned it over 19 times against Duquesne's aggressive pressure defense.

Duquesne continually used its speed and quickness to push the ball up the floor and attack the rim. The Dukes shot 56.1 percent and outrebounded Toronto 53-35. DU turned it over 19 times.

"We got out and ran well today," said Everhart. "I thought we had a few too many turnovers, but I thought our guards did a nice job of making them defend us out of the break."

Everhart employed a two-platoon system for the majority of the game with a unit of Jimmy Sherwood, James, Phillip Fayne, Jason Duty and Mensah starting the game. David Theis, Kieron Achara, Aaron Jackson, Reggie Jackson and Gary Tucker composed the other five as no Duquesne player logged more than 25 minutes.

Six different players hit a 3-pointer and 10 players had at least one assist for the Dukes.

"I thought our quickness in getting to the ball was good. We'll see how well we do that later in the trip. We'll get a real idea of what kind of shape we're in."

Duquesne continues its tour with a game at Ryerson University Sunday at 11:00 a.m. DU will also face Sheridan College at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night.

The trip will conclude with a Noon game versus Waterloo University at Sheridan College on Monday.

QUICK NOTES

• The game was played using a 30-second shot clock.
• Phillip Fayne and Gary Tucker threw down crowd-pleasing dunks off of alley-oop passes.
• Toronto plays Morehead State on Sunday and LSU on Monday.
• Duquesne held Toronto to six points in the first seven minutes of the second half in extending its eight-point halftime lead to 25 points.
• The game was played before a crowd of approximately 250, including a number of Duquesne fans who made the trip up from Pittsburgh.
• The Dukes scored 45 in the first half and 47 in the second half.