Despite leading by as much as 16 in the second half, the Duquesne Dukes could not hold off a furious Saint Joseph's comeback, eventually falling to the Hawks 84-82 in overtime at the A.J. Palumbo Center.
↵The Dukes wasted not only a chance to get a crucial win opening Atlantic 10 play, but also one of the best individual performances of the season.
↵In the first half, the Dukes exploded out to a 40-27 lead at the end of the first half, with 19 points coming from T.J. McConnell.
↵The sophomore put on a show, making seven of 10 shots, including a 4-for-5 mark from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.
↵He would end the game with a career-high 28 points while playing in 41 of a possible 45 minutes.
↵After pushing their lead to as much as 16 in the second half, the Dukes' seemed to lose their focus, allowing St. Joe's back into the game.
↵After slowly chipping away at the lead for the last twelve minutes of the game, Carl Jones scored the biggest two of his 18 points with just six seconds remaining to tie the game at 78 and send it to overtime.
↵In overtime, the Hawks twice pulled ahead by two points but were answered by the Dukes. St. Joe's would go up for good with 1:32 left after a C.J. Aiken layup put them ahead 84-82.
↵The Hawks win however would not had been possible, however, without the shooting of Langston Galloway, who kept St. Joe's close through the late stages.
↵While the Dukes got another solid night out of Sean Johnson (17 points), they sorely missed the presence of B.J. Monteiro, who is sidelined with an injury he suffered on New Year's Eve.
↵The Dukes will look to rebound against St. Bonaventure this Saturday at 4 p.m. in Pittsburgh.