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PITTSBURGH – La Salle rallied from a nine-point second half deficit and earned a gritty 71-68 Atlantic 10 road victory at Duquesne on Saturday night at the Palumbo Center. The Explorers (16-6 overall) improved to 5-2 in the A-10 and are tied for first in the league with St. Bonaventure and Massachusetts.

The 5-2 Atlantic 10 record is the best after seven games since joining the conference.

“To fight back and beat a tough opponent at their place shows a lot about this team,” head coach Dr. John Giannini said. “I really respect and admire what our team did out there tonight.”

Senior Earl Pettis led all scorers with 20 points and added a team-high six boards. Junior Ramon Galloway had 15 points, 13 in the second half, and dished a career-best 10 assists. Freshman Jerrell Wright scored 10 points, including two clutch lay-ups in crunch time.

A 17-4 run midway through the second half turned a 47-38 deficit into a 55-51 La Salle lead with 7:57 to play. Duquesne would take a two-point lead two minutes later but that would be the only advantage the Dukes would have the rest of the contest.

That's not to say the last five minutes of the game were a walk in the park. A seven-point Explorer lead at 66-59 with 2:26 to play quickly turned into a tie game with just over a minute left when DU's Jerry Jones scored five points in a 7-0 run.

But Galloway connected on a traditional three-point play on a driving lay-up to put the visitors ahead 69-66 with 1:30 remaining.

A B.J. Monteiro lay-up cut the lead to one but sophomore Sam Mills made two free throws with seven seconds to play to return it to a three-point La Salle lead.

Duquesne (12-9, 3-4 A-10) got a good three-point look at the buzzer but sophomore Tyreek Duren blocked the shot as time expired to seal the victory.

La Salle's offense never really looked on track until midway through the second half, but nevertheless, the Explorers shot 51.9% from the field and 42.9% from three. Galloway especially got hot in the second half, scoring 13points while Pettis had 12 after the break.

The win was the third straight for La Salle and the ninth in the past 11 games.

T.J. McConnell led Duquesne with 19 points and Sean Johnson added 16 for the Dukes.

The Blue and Gold host Charlotte on Wednesday at 7 PM and visit the Palestra on Saturday to take on Big 5 rival Saint Joseph's at noon.