PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Senior T.J. Atwood scored a team-high 15 points to lead Lamar University, but Duquesne was able to pull away late for a 10-point victory, 66-56, Tuesday evening at LaRoche University. The setback was the first of the season for the Cardinals who saw their regular-season win streak (10 games) come to an end.
 
The Cardinals finished the night knocking down better than 40 percent of their shots (22-of-54), but uncharacteristically struggled from three-point range (4-of-16/.250).
 
Duquesne finished the night shooting just 37 percent from the field but overcame a tough opening half by converting 13-of-26 (.500) attempts in the second. The Dukes were held to below 30 percent from three-point range but managed to convert several clutch triples at key moments in the second half. Duquesne also held a 40-31 lead on the glass.
 
Joining Atwood in double figures were sophomore Davion Buster and senior V.J. Holmes. Buster scored 11 points while Holmes added 10. Freshman Ayaan Sohail came off the bench to score eight points in 18 minutes of action.
 
The Cardinals jumped out to a nine-point lead early following an Atwood layup on a nice feed from Ellis Jefferson. The basket gave LU a 16-7 lead, but the Cardinals then went cold not scoring a point for the next six minutes before Atwood ended the drought. The Dukes went on a 14-2 run to claim a three-point advantage before the Atwood's basket.
 
The Cardinals pulled even at 23 following a triple from freshman Ayaan Sohail – his first of the game – and the two teams went into the locker room all tied up. The Cardinals were 10-of-23 (.435) from the field in the opening half, while holding their hosts to just eight field goals.
 
The Dukes came out of the locker room and caught fire going on a 16-7 run to build a nine-point advantage just over five minutes into the half. Big Red put an end to the Duquesne run with another Sohail triple.
 
The Dukes managed to push their advantage to as many as 10 points with two Carry Sincere free throws with 12:07 remaining before Big Red mounted a rally. Following baskets from Sohail, Holmes and Atwood the Cardinals trimmed the deficit down to five, 48-43, less than two minutes later.
 
After a Buster miss, junior Avery Sullivan ripped a rebound away from Duquesne and connected on a reverse layup to pull LU within a point, 48-47, with just under 10 minutes remaining. The margin got no greater than two possessions for the next seven minutes as the Cardinals again cut the deficit to one after Ellis Jefferson followed a Buster miss by taking a lazy pass away from Duquesne and scoring an easy layup with 5:25 remaining.
 
Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Cardinals would get as Duquesne hit some clutch baskets and converted their attempts at the free throw line to record the 10-point margin late.
 
The Cardinals will be back in action Friday when they return home to host Mount St. Mary's. The game against Mountaineers will tip off at 7 p.m. from the Montagne Center.