PITTSBURGH – Duquesne locked down visiting St. Bonaventure Saturday afternoon as part of a 75-57 decision at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

Duquesne started the game on a 25-6 run after Bonaventure led early.

The Dukes, who improved to 4-1 in Atlantic 10 play after an 0-6 start to the non-conference season, took a 38-29 lead to intermission.

St. Bonaventure (15-4, 3-3 A-10) captured momentum back out of the break, closing within 38-33 two minutes into the half.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Duquesne pushed the score back to 45-33 before Duane Thompson injected some life into the Bonnies with consecutive buckets for a 53-46 margin with nine minutes left.

It would be as close as the Bonnies would get down the stretch, though, as Duquesne continued draining threes to run ahead by double digits once more.

Noel Brown led the Bonnies with his first career double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds while Melvin Council Jr. finished one rebound shy of his own double-double, recording 17 points and nine boards to go along with four assists.

Lajae Jones chipped in 11 points and five rebounds.

Duquesne sank 14 3-pointers to keep the Bonnies at bay and shot nearly 47 percent overall from the floor. The Bonnies, meanwhile, struggled to a 3-14 clip from beyond the arc.

Maximus Edwards scored 17 points for the hosts with Cameron Crawford putting home 12 points.

Tre Dinkins handed out six assists for the Dukes (9-9, 4-1).

GAME NOTES

• Thompson matched his career-best with seven points off the bench.
• Duquesne tallied 40 bench points.
• Bona's offense never gained much traction, shooting 38 percent overall for the day with 32 of their points coming in the paint.
• The teams finished even on the glass, 33-33.
• Chance Moore was limited to 12 minutes due to a foot injury.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"We didn't guard. Give Duquesne credit, but you can't get outscored by 33 from the 3-point line and expect to win. We're having a hard time keeping good, athletic guys in front of us. We didn't do a good job on the ball screens, but really we didn't do a good job guarding the ball at all."

"When we lose Chance and put Lajae at the three, bring in Miles and Noah, we need to get more production from the bench. Injuries are part of the game. The bench has to respond and the guys that are playing a lot of minutes need to be better. But it all begins and ends on the defensive end." 

"We tried to play some zone, but they were penetrating. They had 21 assists on 28 field goals and that means everything was coming off the pass. They were driving and kicking the ball out for threes. We have to get better on the ball if we're going to have success."

UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure returns home to host George Mason on Tuesday night. Tip time at the Reilly Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.