PITTSBURGH (AP) — Marcos Santos-Silva scored six of his career-high 20 points early in the second half as VCU rallied past Duquesne for an 80-74 victory on Saturday, ending the Dukes five-game win streak.
Frankie Hughes, with 20 points, opened the second half with a quick layup for a four-point Duquesne lead. Isaac Vann and Santos-Silva scored the next four and the Rams (14-6, 5-2 Atlantic 10) went on a 14-6 run to lead 57-51. Santos-Silva and De'Riante Jenkins each dunked in the nearly eight-minute surge.
Tavian Dunn-Martin scored a career-high 21 points, including six straight points to bring Duquesne (14-6, 5-2) into a 57-57 tie, but VCU scored the next seven and held on.
Duquesne made 10 3-pointers, but eight were in the first half when the Dukes fought out of an early 11-point hole to lead by as many as seven before halftime.
After halftime, VCU had six steals and Duquesne made 11 turnovers. The Dukes came as close as 76-72 on a Hughes 3 in the final minute, but Marcus Evans made four straight free throws and the Dukes were hampered by two turnovers and an offensive goal-tending call on a putback attempt.
