PITTSBURGH – No. 24 Saint Louis withstood a furious second-half rally from Duquesne to post an 81-77 win over the Dukes Tuesday night in Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball action at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

The win, the Billikens' 12th in a row, improves their record to 18-1 and 6-0 in league play. Duquesne dips to 10-9 overall and 2-4 in the league

SLU is one win away from matching the program's best record through 20 games (1993-94). Additionally, the Billikens are 6-0 in A-10 play for the second time ever (2013-14).

Tuesday's game was also the first win for the Billikens as a ranked team since they defeated NC State in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

It was another balanced scoring effort for Saint Louis as five players scored in double figures. Robbie Avila, Trey Green and Dion Brown all scored a team-high 14 points. 

Brady Dunlap chipped in 11 points, while Kellen Thames scored 10. Avila added a game-high six assists, while Brown finished with six rebounds.
Amari McCottry scored all eight of his points in the second half and finished with a team-high seven rebounds and a career-high-tying four steals. 

The Billikens shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 49.1 percent for the game. SLU, which came into the game leading the nation in FG% defense, held the Dukes to just 34.8 percent shooting.

Saint Louis led by as many as 14 with less than seven minutes remaining before Duquesne mounted a comeback. The Dukes trimmed their deficit to one point with under a minute to go at 78-77. Dunlap was fouled and hit both free throws to put SLU ahead by three. On the ensuing possession, a potential game-tying 3-pointer by Duquesne rimmed out, Brown collected the rebound, was fouled and hit a free throw on the other end to seal the four-point SLU victory.

SLU took a two-point lead (40-38) into halftime after a back-and-forth first half. The Dukes led by as many as five with less than five minutes to play in the first before back-to-back treys by Green gave the Bills a lead they would not relinquish. 

In the second half, McCottry (who was 0-4 from the floor in the first half), scored consecutive baskets to start the frame as SLU started the half on an 11-2 surge to build its first double-digit lead of the game. 

But the Dukes did not go down quietly and manufactured a 12-1 run to keep its deficit manageable, ultimately clawing all the way back from a one-time 17-point deficit in the second half to pulling to within a possession late in the game.

The Billikens are back in action on Friday night when they head to Olean, N.Y., to take on St. Bonaventure in a 4:30 p.m. CT / 5:30 p.m. ET tip.