PITTSBURGH – Sean Johnson scored 20 points and freshman Quevyn Winters came off the bench to add 16 of his 19 in the second half as Duquesne held on to defeat James Madison, 90-88 in overtime, in the Progressive Legends Classic Pittsburgh Sub Regional at the Palumbo Center.
Jerry Jones, P.J. Torres and Derrick Colter added 12 points each for Duquesne (1-2), which upped its all-time home opening record to 89-8.
Rayshawn Davis had 20 points and 15 rebounds for James Madison which dropped to 0-2.
Colter, who finished with a game-high 7 assists, missed a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left setting up a final possession for JMU.
Andre Nation, who hit three 3-pointers in scoring 19 points, missed a contested 3-pointer from the right wing in the waning seconds and both teams scrambled for the rebound as time expired.
“That was truly a program win,” said Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry. “It looked for a little bit there that we were trying to give it away. Our guys really scrapped and really played hard. I thought everybody down the line made some really, really tough plays.”
Duquesne led 81-74 with under three minutes left in regulation, before James Madison closed with seven consecutive points, tying it on a pair of Devon Moore free throws with 39 seconds left.
Colter missed a jumper from the corner and Winters rebounded and had an open look from the foul line with 3 seconds left, but his shot rimmed out.
Johnson left the game with leg cramps with 5:52 left and DU down 69-68. He briefly returned with just over two minutes left in regulation, but was unable to continue. He did not play in overtime.
Duquesne, playing with three freshmen on the floor, turned it over on its first three possessions of overtime as JMU hit a free throw and got a layup from Goins to take an 84-81 lead.
DU cut it to one on a Jeremiah Jones layup and took an 86-84 lead on Kadeem Pantophlet’s first field goal of the game – a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:30 left.
A.J. Davis missed a pair of free throws, but Goins muscled in the rebound to tie it at 86-86.
Colter scored on a drive and Jerry Jones hit a pair of free throws to make it 90-86 with 37 seconds remaining.
Devon Moore cut it to two on a drive 11 seconds later.
Colter was then fouled and missed both, setting up a final possession for James Madison.
Duquesne, which shot 53.3 percent, went 11-of-25 from the 3-point arc. JMU, which hit nine “3’s”, shot 44.6 percent. There were four ties and seven lead changes in the game.
Duquesne shot 69.6 percent in jumping out to a 44-36 halftime lead. Johnson led the way, going 5-of-6 in scoring 15. P.J. Torres, whose previous career high was three, added 9 points in 9 minutes off the bench.
DU upped its lead to 61-53 on a Winters layup before JMU went on a 14-0 run. Goins gave JMU its first lead since the opening minute on a jump hook, A.J. Davis followed with a 3-pointer and Alioune Diouf added a dunk to make it 67-61 before Winters scored five straight to make it 67-66 with 7:17 left.
Winters scored 12 straight for DU before Jerry Jones converted a three-point play to make it 74-71. Colter hit a jumper to give Duquesne an 81-74 lead before JMU rallied to force overtime.
Duquesne returns to action tomorrow against North Dakota State, an 83-80 overtime winner over Youngstown State in the first game of Monday’s doubleheader, at 7:00 p.m. The DU/NDSU game will be preceded by James Madison vs. Youngstown State at 4:30 p.m.
North Dakota State will face James Madison at 4:30 p.m. and Duquesne will host Youngstown State at 7:00 p.m. in the final doubleheader of the sub regional on Wednesday.
NOTES
• Sean Johnson left the game with cramps with 5:52 left … he briefly returned at the 2:32 mark, but soon went out again … he did not play in overtime … Johnson was 6-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line in notching his sixth career 20-point game.
• Duquesne is now 89-8 all-time (20-5 at Palumbo Center) in its home opener.
• Quevyn Winters and Derrick Colter combined for 25 of Duquesne’s 46 points in the second half and overtime.
• Jerry Jones’ five assists, four steals and 36 minutes were all career highs.
• P.J. Torres, who finished with a career-high 12 points, scored nine in nine first half minutes … his previous career best was three points, done three times last season.
• Duquesne, which was 11-of-52 from the 3-point arc in its first two games, finished 11-of-25 … six players hit at least one 3-pointer with Winters leading the way with three.
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