La Salle Hands Duquesne 3rd Straight Loss

Gary Tucker's career-high 23 points weren't enough for Duquesne (16-10, 6-7) as La Salle (13-13, 7-5) knocked off the Dukes, 75-72, Sunday afternoon in an Atlantic 10 matchup at the Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh.

Gary Tucker led all scorers with 23 points. Aaron Jackson, at 11 points, was the only other Duke in double figures.

Duquesne took an early 4-3 lead and held the top score for the first 15 minutes only to see La Salle close the period with a 10-3 run for a 41-34 first half edge.

La Salle opened the second half with six straight for a 13-point, 47-36 lead. Duquesne chipped away, put together a 10-0 run, and tied the game, 52-52, on a pair of Kojo Mensah free throws.

La Salle went back up 64-55 but again Duquesne responded and got within a field goal, 67-65, on Bill Clark's three-pointer. Tucker's three free throws, the second time the senior was fouled while shooting beyond the arc, cut the margin to 73-72. (He made all but one of the six.)

Darnell Harris sank two free throws to give the visitors a 75-72 edge. Clark had two opportunities to tie the game but missed both three-point attempts.

Harris, the Explorers' leading scorer and A-10 Co-Player of the Week, scored 18 points, 13 in the second half. Ruben Guillandeaux, who was injured when DU beat LSU, 101-84, two weeks ago in Philadelphia, had 17 points off the bench.

The Dukes, now with a three-game losing streak, have a week off before heading to North Carolina for another Sunday 2:00 p.m. contest, this one with Charlotte (15-11, 6-6) on March 2, 2008.