St. Joseph's wins in overtime

PITTSBURGH - If the rest of St. Joseph's Atlantic Ten games this season are anything like the first one, it will make for some cardiac-inducing moments on Hawk Hill.

St. Joseph's rallied from a 16-point deficit with 91/2 minutes remaining on Wednesday night to beat Duquesne, 84-82, in overtime, in the conference opener at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

Carl Jones, the A-10's leading scorer, enabled the Hawks to send the game to overtime by sinking a 12-foot jumper in the lane with six seconds remaining in regulation.

C.J. Aiken's basket on a baseline drive with 1 minute, 32 seconds left in overtime snapped an 82-82 and wound up being the game-winner.

Duquesne seemed to have the game in hand when it scored 11 straight points, including consecutive three-pointers by Kadeem Pantophlet, to move ahead 62-46 with 9:48 remaining.

But St. Joe's responded by going on a 13-2 run to cut the deficit to 64-61 with 6:11 left. Langston Galloway keyed the burst with back-to-back threes, and Aiken scored five points.

The Hawks eventually got to within one, at 74-73, on a Jones free throw with 2:09 to go before he forced overtime with his jumper.

St. Joseph's (11-4) won for the sixth time in the last seven games after having its five-game winning streak snapped Saturday at No. 24 Harvard. Duquesne (9-6) had its four-game winning streak end.

Galloway led five St. Joseph's scorers in double figures with 19 points. Jones hit his average with 18 points, while Aiken had 15 points. Ronald Roberts Jr. had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Halil Kanacevic added 11 points and 15 rebounds.

T.J. McConnell scored a game-high 28 points for Duquesne, including making 5 of 6 shots from three-point range, and added five assists. Sean Johnson had 17 points, and Pantophlet finished with 11 points.

Daryus Quarles hit a three-pointer from the right corner to open the scoring, and Kanacevic's two free throws put St. Joseph's ahead, 5-3. The Hawks never led again until overtime.

Johnson's three-pointer started a 20-7 run by Duquesne that put it ahead 23-12 midway through the first half. The Dukes eventually stretched the lead to 15 at 40-25 on Mike Talley's two free throws, then settled for a 40-27 halftime advantage.

St. Joseph's returns to action Saturday afternoon, when the Hawks host Charlotte. The 49ers were 7-5 before their A-10 opener against Richmond on Wednesday night.