PITTSBURGH (AP) - Duquesne center Kieron Achara scored 24 points as the Dukes posted an 85-58 victory over the Saint Louis Billikens on Saturday afternoon at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh. The game was the final regular season Atlantic 10 Conference game for both teams.
The Billikens took the lead when Bryce Husak scored on the opening possession of the game, but the Dukes tallied the next six points to surge into the lead. Barry Eberhardt ended the streak for SLU, but Duquesne tacked on a 5-0 run. Danny Brown drove down the lane as the Billikens drew to 11-6 seven minutes in. When the Billikens hit back-to-back 3-pointers by Brown and III, they crept to 15-14 midway through the first half. Brown's layup brought the Billikens to 17-16. Two free throws by Luke Meyer at the 8:37 mark gave the Billikens their first lead of the game 18-17, and his wing jumper pushed the Billikens on top 20-17. Duquesne retook the lead at 23-22 and was still only up 25-24 with five minutes left in the half before the Dukes went on a 16-4 to close out the 20 minutes of action. Duquesne scored just before the halftime buzzer to build a 41-26 lead. The Dukes finished the half by hitting 16-of-25 shots (64.0 percent).
The Dukes opened the second half by scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the half to take their first 20-point margin of the day. Lisch hit a trey to ignite a 7-0 SLU run. Polk scored on a short jumper, and two free throws by Liddell brought the Billikens to 58-40 with 11:08 to play. Lisch drained three free throws as the Billikens kept the deficit at 18, but the Dukes scored seven straight and held on for the victory.
Barry Eberhardt led SLU with six rebounds apiece. Achara hit all 12 of his free throw attempts and hit 6-of-8 shots from the field. The Dukes finished the game shooting 56.0 percent from the field.
The Billikens fall to 16-14 overall, and finish the A-10 regular season at 7-9. The Dukes move to 17-12, 7-9 in the league. The Billikens will play Dayton in the opening round of the A-10 Tournament beginning on Wednesday, March 12, in Atlantic City, N. J. Game time is 11 am (CT)/noon (ET).
