Nov. 20, 2006

Box Score

PITTSBURGH (AP) - James Hughes, too tall and mobile for depleted Duquesne to handle, scored 25 points and Northern Illinois withstood a last-minute rally in regulation to beat the Dukes 87-82 in overtime Monday night.

Hughes, five inches taller than any Duquesne starter at 6-foot-11, missed only one of 12 shots and had eight rebounds as the Huskies (2-0) scored all but a handful of baskets from the inside. Duquesne is down to seven scholarship players because of injuries and the September shootings that injured five players.

Despite their lack of size and experience, the Dukes (2-1) rallied from eight points down with 6 1/2 minutes to go to tie it at 72 on Aaron Jackson's driving layup in the final second of the second half. Jackson, a sophomore and the Dukes' only healthy returning starter, scored three baskets in the final minute of the half and ended with a career-high 22 points.

But the Huskies - the Mid-American Conference West champions last season - wore down the Dukes after that. They scored the first five points of overtime and went on to outscore Duquesne 15-10 on 11 free throws and two driving layups by freshman Cody Yelder, who scored 13. Ben Rand added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Duquesne's Robert Mitchell, a freshman, hit two long 3-pointers in overtime and ended with 24 points and 10 rebounds, but the Dukes got no closer than three points after the Huskies seized a 77-72 lead.

Scott Grote, a freshman who averaged 20.5 points in Duquesne's first two games, got into foul trouble early by drawing two fouls in a 10-second span. He didn't foul out until 3:16 remaining in overtime, but was held to 7 points and only one basket.

The two teams play an uncommon non-conference rematch Saturday at Northern Illinois, the first time in 38 years Duquesne has played a non-league team twice in the same regular season.

One of the game officials was Tracy Woodson, a former Pittsburgh Pirates minor league manager who now coaches baseball at Valparaiso.