Oct. 30, 2004

Final Stats

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Niel Loebig threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Hocker and Duquesne's defense yielded just 110 yards as the Dukes beat Marist 7-3 on Saturday.

Duquesne (5-2, 3-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) has now won 15 in a row at home and 32 straight conference games.

Marist (3-5, 3-1) entered the game tied for first in the conference, but left Rooney field averaging just 1.9 yards on each of its 59 plays. Marist punted on seven of eight drives from the beginning of the second quarter through the beginning of the fourth. The other ended on the Duquesne 48, a 9-play, 30-yard affair interrupted by halftime.

But for all that futility, Marist led for most of the game.

Duquesne took the opening kickoff but punted after going three-and-out on its opening drive. Marist then drove 58 yards on 13 plays and scored on Brad Rowe's 29-yard field goal at 7:04 of the first quarter.

Duquesne struggled in the first half because of turnovers.

After punting on it second possession, Duquesne then lost the ball on an interception, two fumbles and another punt in the first half. One fumble ended a 7-play, 50-yard drive that saw the Dukes reach the Marist 34.

Duquesne had its first real scoring chance 10 seconds into the fourth quarter, but John Harris missed a 22-yard field goal after an 11-play, 70 yard drive.

Marist went three-and-out on its next possession, losing 9 yards and having to punt from its own 2. Duquesne took over on the 32 and Loebig's scoring pass capped a 3-play scoring drive.

Marist got the ball twice more before the game ended, but punted after just four plays and then lost the ball on downs after four more plays with just 1:12 left in the game. Duquesne took over on Marist's 1-yard-line, but Loebig took a knee twice and ran out the clock.