PITTSBURGH  - UMBC fought back gamely from its largest halftime deficit of the season, but high-scoring Duquesne held off the Retrievers, 89-70, at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

Freshman wing Joe Sherburne (Whitefish Bay, Wisc.) continued his brilliant play, scoring a season-high 25 points and burying 6-of-13 from behind the arc.

The last Retriever to convert six treys in a game was Brian Neller, who knocked down six on March 9, 2013 in an America East Tournament victory over Hartford.   

UMBC (2-8) was outscored, 53-31, in the first 20 minutes, but charged out of the locker room on an 11-0 run to quickly cut the deficit to 53-42 on Sherburne's short jumper just 3:36 into the stanza.

The Dukes stemmed the tide, but Sherburne kept UMBC in touch, hitting a layup to keep the deficit at 62-50 at the 11:34 mark.

However, Duquense forward L.G. Gill, who hit 6-of-7 shots from behind the arc, buried a pair of treys around two DU free throws and the Dukes rebuilt the lead to 19.

UMBC senior post Cody Joyce (Churchton, Md./Southern) added 18 points in 25 minutes, while junior wing Will Darley (Timonium, Md./Dulaney) recorded 13 points, a team-best eight rebounds and five assists.  

Gill led four Dukes in double figures with 22 points and added a game-high ten rebounds.

Duquesne (7-2),, which entered the game averaging over 85 points per game, buried 10 first half treys and the Retrievers could not match the Dukes shot-for-shot. After Joyce converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to 17-11 at the 13:13 mark of the half, the hosts outscored UMBC, 18-5, over the next four minutes to take a commanding 35-16 advantage.

The Dukes hit 10-of-18 shots from behind the arc and 21-of-38 (55.3%) overall for the half. The Retrievers converted just 10-of-34 attempts overall and 4-of-17 from long range.

The Retrievers hit 15-of-30 shots from the floor and 5-of-10 from behind the arc in the second half, but finished at 39.1 percent (25-of-64) for the game. Duquesne also hit half of its shots in the second half (13-of-26) and finished at 53.1 percent (34-of-64) for the game.

UMBC produced 21 assists on 25 made field goals and committed only nine miscues. They outscored DU, 22-9, off turnovers.

The Retrievers return home to take on Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 1:00 p.m.