The Hawks, whose only road win thus far came at the Palestra on Jan. 25 in a Big 5 game against Penn, nearly got its first true road victory at Duquesne yesterday. But they frittered away an opportunity in the closing seconds on a turnover and fell to the Dukes, 74-71, at A.J. Palumbo Center.

Saint Joseph's (8-13, 2-5 Atlantic 10) is 1-8 away from Hagan Arena.

"Every guy had one play, whether it's a walk, a missed open shot, a charge . . . The coach found a way to not make a play and the players found a way not to make a play," Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said.

After the near-miss, Saint Joseph's senior guard Darrin Govens just shook his head in dismay.

"At the end of the day, we lost," he said. "I thought we were the better team. We just didn't execute or get that stop when we needed it. We can't give up. We've just got to stay with it."

Martelli tried to stay positive in the face of his team's second consecutive loss.

"I had no problem with how hard they played," he said. "But at some point, you can't talk about how we're going to be tough, we're going to be tough, we're going to be road warriors and all that kind of stuff, and then not do it. That's disappointing. I'm disappointed for the players."

Duquesne sophomore guard Melquan Bolding, rapidly regaining his form after sitting out 13 games following wrist surgery in November, scored 24 points, including 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range, to lead the Dukes (11-10, 2-5), who were coming off a 36-point loss at Xavier on Thursday.

"He made three threes, and they're not a good three-point shooting team," Martelli said.

Duquesne entered the day ranked 12th among 14 A-10 teams in field-goal percentage (.409) and was last in the league in three-point shooting (24.8 percent).

Bolding shot 9-for-13 overall. He scored 17 first-half points to power Duquesne to a 39-31 halftime advantage.

Bolding scored 25 points in Duquesne's opener against Nicholls State on Nov. 13 but was sidelined the following day after a fractured bone showed up during X-rays. He returned to the team this month and has shown steady progress.

Damian Saunders registered his 16th double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds to go with seven blocks, three assists and one steal, and Eric Evans scored 12 points, all in the second half, for Duquesne, which visits No. 15 Temple on Wednesday.

Saint Joseph's wasted a chance to tie or take the lead with 7.6 seconds remaining and trailing by two points, when Bryant Irwin was called for a travel.

After Saint Joseph's knotted the score at 66-66 on a tip-in by Idris Hilliard with 1:54 remaining, Saunders scored inside, then blocked a shot at the other end to set up his dunk off a fastbreak with 58 seconds to play.

Hilliard scored again but then missed the free throw that would have completed a three-point play.

Evans followed with two free throws, making it 72-68 with 23.3 seconds to go.

Govens' three-pointer cut the Duquesne lead to one before Bill Clark made one of two free throws for the Dukes, who forced Irwin's turnover on the next possession.

Saint Joseph's, playing its fourth game in 8 days, was led by Govens and Justin Crosgile with 17 points apiece. Hilliard added 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Todd O'Brien scored 13 points.

Following the critical Hawks turnover, Evans hit one of two free throws, giving Duquesne a three-point cushion that stood when Saint Joseph's Carl Jones shot an airball at the other end as time expired.