Dukes Rally to Defeat UDC, 97-81
McConnell records triple-double in comeback win

box score

VALPARAISO, IND. - B.J. Monteiro scored 24 points and T.J. McConnell recorded the second triple-double in school history to lead Duquesne to a 97-81 win over Division II University of the District of Columbia in the 2K Sports Classic Subregional at Valparaiso, Ind.

McConnell, a sophomore, had 15 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and 5 steals in helping the Dukes (2-1) pull away from the stubborn Firebirds (2-1) who were within two with 9:22 left.

Sean Johnson scored 15 of his career high-tying 19 in the first half to help the Dukes rally from a 36-27 deficit. Mike Talley scored 14 to go along with a career high 4 steals and Eric Evans had 11 points and a career high-tying 6 steals as the Dukes finished with a school record-tying 17 thefts. Andre Marhold was the sixth Duke in double figures with 10 points.

Guards Brandon Herbert, who began his career at Binghamton, and Nigel Munson, who came to UDC from Virginia Tech, scored 21 and 20 points respectively for the Firebirds who connected on 10-of-22 3 pointers - including 5 from Herbert.

Duquesne led 67-64 when head coach Ron Everhart went small with a lineup of Monteiro, Johnson, Evans, Talley and McConnell. Over the next 2:29 the Dukes outscored UDC 14-1 to take command of the game. Talley and Monteiro hit 3-pointers - off passes from McConnell - to fuel the run that gave the Dukes an 81-65 lead with 6:52 left.

UDC briefly cut it to 13 before the 6-1 McConnell capped a 5-0 run with his first career dunk to build the lead to 18. The Firebirds would get no closer than 15 the rest of the way as Duquesne shot 75.9 percent (22-of-29) in the second half.

"We were forced to play small because they were beating us with their quickness," said Everhart whose tallest player in the late-game lineup was the 6-5 Monteiro. "We were able to apply more pressure and get the ball out in the open court.

"I thought T.J. really took command of how the game was played over the last 11 minutes," added Everhart. "He had as many assists as he had and could have had five or six more if we'd have finished some plays or didn't get fouled. That's as good as I've seen him play."

McConnell had just two points in a first half that saw UDC go up by nine on a Dishawn Bradshaw 3-pointer with 4:29 to go. Johnson started a 13-2 run with three free throws and Monteiro ended it with a dunk with 7 seconds left to put the Dukes up 40-38 at the half.

There were a total of nine ties and six lead changes before DU took the lead for good on a McConnell layup with 11:47 to go.

The Dukes shot 54.7 percent despite going 5-of-20 from the 3-point arc.

Duquesne continues play in the 2K Sports Classic against Akron on Saturday at 6:00 ET, and concludes the three-games-in-three-days trip versus host Valparaiso on Sunday at 4:30 ET.