PITTSBURGH (AP) — 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.
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.
