Rhode Island holds off Duquesne 77-76
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Marquis Jones' layup with 9 seconds left on the clock lifted Rhode Island over Duquesne 77-76 on Wednesday night, sending the Dukes to their fourth loss in five games.
The Rams (17-10, 8-5 Atlantic 10 Conference) trailed 76-71 with 3:15 left to play before a layup by Will Martell and two free throws from Delroy James cut the deficit to 76-75 with 1:05 to go.
Nikola Malesevic scored 18 points and Jones, James and Jamal Wilson each finished with 14 for Rhode Island, which dished out 19 assists.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Duquesne came into the game averaging 18.6 assists per game — the highest average in the country — but only managed 13 against the Rams.
Sean Johnson scored 18 points, T.J. McConnell added 13 and B.J. Monteiro 12 for the Dukes (17-9, 9-4), who have lost two consecutive one-point games and fallen from first place to fourth place in the A10 since the start of February.