A-10 Tourney: FINAL: La Salle 82, Duquesne 79

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The Explorers begin fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives against Duquesne.

FINAL: La Salle 82, Duquesne 79

Wow, Mensah gets confused on a screen and throws it into his own bench. He must have thought that his teammate was flaring when he was, in fact cutting.

Guillandeaux nails two from the line, Duquesne's Reggie Jackson misses a three for the tie with Guillandeaux in his face (though making sure not to foul), and this game is over. La Salle is three wins away.

What a game, Jackson was unstoppable, but cooled down just at the right moment. What a shot Darnell Harris made to tie the game at 79, he is just unconscious. His passing was horrible at times, but he can shoot from NBA range with anyone in this league.

0:21.1 2nd Half: La Salle 80, Duquesne 79

No friggin way.... Harris pulls up from a good 27 feet an drains the three.

Even more incredible - after getting fouled Green (a 72.4 percent shooter from the line) continues the Explorers' woes from the stripe, but does convert on the second to go up by one...

While the suspense is killing all in the building, the Dukes' cheerleaders have fallen a fourth time.

1:04 2nd Half: La Salle 76, Duquesne 79

Harris is having a very bad passing day -throwing another intercepted ball, and nearling giving it away the next time down. Fortunately, for La Salle, they got a stop.

Jerrell Williams and James trade hook shots to keep the Dukes' lead at two, but Harris draws a foul while dribbling, and ties it up at the line.

Oh, what a huge three by Reggie Jackson as Harris can't get out in time, and Green is caught on the charge. Big turnaround with under two to go. Duquesne somehow loses the ball, slipped out of a guard's hands, and La Salle takes over. Dr. John Giannini flips out at Guillandeaux for calling the timeout a few feet short of the halfcourt mark. 3:12 2nd Half: La Salle 72, Duquesne 73

Sorry, the wireless just cut out at the wrong time and deleted my last post. A Harris three cut the lead to two, and the game continues to go back and forth.

Bad news for La Salle. Not only does Johnson foul out, Green hits the ground in pain, but he is able to walk off the court on his own power.

7:26 2nd Half: La Salle 65, Duquesne 69

Harris makes a lazy pass that Reggie Jackson intercepts for an open layup, and the Dukes go up seven. Jerrell Williams missing the front end of a one-and-one doesn't help either.

Harris drains a tough long two, and then hits a long, open three coming off of a screen. However he misses the heat check the next time down. Johnson commits a useless foul, and that's his fourth.

9:13 2nd Half: La Salle 60, Duquesne 65

Just when one team looks to take over, the other keeps it close. Duquesne went on a 7-0 run to take a four-point lead, but Green takes it to the hoop for an and-1 layup.

Reggie Jackson scores twice on a nice move, and Achara thwarts Jerrell Williams' move inside.

10:50 2nd Half: La Salle 57, Duquesne 59

Mekongo Mbala and Reggie Jackson quickly trade threes, as the Explorers lead by one.

Diaz fouls Reggie Jackson, and yet again the Dukes go to the line for three shots. The freebies tie it at 57, and a La Salle turnover takes the lead. The refs are really calling a lot of touch fouls, and the crowd for both sides is getting aggravated.

I don't know if they're missing all of their guys, but the Duquesne cheerleaders have slipped a good three times this game. No one's gotten hurt, but I'm getting worried, to be honest.

12:50 2nd Half: La Salle 52, Duquesne 51

The Dukes start the half off hot - each of their three starting guards takes it to the basket for two. Harris connects with Johnson for an alley-oop, but he then commits a foul on a three-pointer to give the lead back to Duquesne.

Barrett gets yet another offensive board for the Explorers, though, and the North Philadelphia side takes back the lead. Then Sherman Diaz puts back the missed shot from the line to take back that three-point advantage. Just then, Clark comes back with an and-1 of his own.

Halftime: La Salle 39, Duquesne 36

Harris may have been knocked straight, as he hits the ground hard while taking a charge, but comes back to tie it the next possession with a long jumper. Mekongo Mbala gets an offensive rebound and puts in a five-footer for an and-1 to take the lead for the first time in a while.

Yves then gets a tough rebound, turns over the outlet pass, and then grabs another physical rebound before getting fouled., and hitting two from the line.

Reggie Jackson does a great job of sealing his defender and making the lefty layup.

Tucker bricks the front end of a one-and-one, Guillandeaux misses and the Explorers go into the half up by three.

6:30 1st Half, La Salle 32, Duquesne 34

The Duquesne guards are quick, and can get into the paint at will. They're not hitting their free throw, though.

Williams, I believe, makes a perfect pass is transition to Ruben Guillandeaux, who spins to the basket for two. The Dukes are able to score inside to keep hold of the lead with a bank inside.

For some reason, Duquesne has no band, and it's kind of awkwardly silent when their cheerleaders do a routine.

6:30 1st Half, La Salle 29, Duquesne 31

Terrell Williams gets blocked twice inside sans foul. La Salle is hitting about double the percentage from two as it has from beyond the arc. This is as scrappy and fast a game as I've seen in a while. La Salle and Duquesne get a ton of looks inside - many on offensive rebounds - but the interior defense has been good, with the finishing equally bad.

Green lightly dunks one home on a break, I'd guess the Explorers' fifth slam of the night. Jerrell Williams followsa shot to tie it up, but the Dukes nail two open threes to open up a six-point lead.

Sherman Diaz, off the bench, feeds Mekongo Mbala for two and then forces an errant three from Reggie Jackson. After hitting a jumper, Jerrell Williams gets tripped up and falls hard. He grimaces, but seems to be fine now.

11:41 1st Half, La Salle 20, Duquesne 23

Aaron Jackson's crossover is too quick for the Explorer defenders, as he turns a drive into a nasty reverse layup. But Williams hits a long two to take the lead right back.

Barrett misses two free throws, hits a three and then turns it over on the third trip down. Meanwhile, Achara steps out and hits a three to break the tie. With 43 total points in 7:30, this game is going to be real high-scoring. La Salle plays fast, and the Dukes average 75.6 possessions per 40 minutes.

17:14 1st Half, La Salle 15, Duquesne 14

Duquesne may hit a mere 31 percent from three, but they have hit two big ones early - one contested, one not.

Green comes right back with a beautiful alley-oop to Johnson, though, and Mekongo Mbala comes back with another transition dunk.

17:14 1st Half, La Salle 10, Duquesne 8 The Explorers have come out on fire. Green sealed his man for a lob inside, and Darnell Harris and

Holy sh... Tucker just put Williams on a poster with a monster dunk, Jordan style, spreading his legs. And he's no forward -- the senior is only 6-1.

Johnson gets Duquesne back with an and-1 dunk of his own.

___________ Starters:

La Salle: G Darnell Harris G Rodney Green F Paul Johnson F Yves Mekongo Mbala F Jerrell Williams

Duquesne: G Reggie Jackson G Aaron Jackson G Gary Tucker F Bill Clark C Shawn James