NCAA Game Summary - Duquesne at George Mason

Fairfax, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - Led by 21 points and eight rebounds from Derrick Colter, the Duquesne Dukes downed the George Mason Patriots, 81-69, in an Atlantic 10 Conference tilt at the Patriot Center.

For the Dukes (13-16, 5-11 A-10), Ovie Soko added 18 points, L.G. Gill contributed 16, Micah Mason chipped in with 11 points and Dominique McKoy scored 10. With the win, Duquesne secured a spot in Thursday's first round of the A-10 tournament.

Sherrod Wright led all scorers with 25 points to pace the Patriots (11-19, 4-12), while Bryon Allen finished with 17 points. The loss means that George Mason enters the A-10 tournament as the 12th-seed and must play an opening- round game on Wednesday night against 13th-seed Fordham.

Duquesne opened the contest shooting 41.9 percent from the field, including 6- of-13 from beyond the arc. Trailing 29-25 with less than five minutes to play in the first, the Dukes finished the half on a 13-2 run and went into halftime holding a 38-31 lead. George Mason shot just 36.7 percent in the first half, but was effective from the perimeter, knocking down 5-of-10 from 3-point distance.

The Dukes opened the half on a 9-0 run to build a double-digit lead and the Patriots never seriously challenged again. Duquesne hit on a scorching 66.7 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, including 5-of-8 from deep. George Mason improved to 42.9 percent shooting after the break, but just 2- of-8 from 3-point range in the half.

The Dukes dominated the glass by outrebounding the Patriots, 42-27. They also finished with a 30-26 edge in points in the paint.