In its previous five games, Duquesne had alternated between victories and defeats, winning three and losing three, including a four-point setback to William & Mary four days earlier.
So naturally, the Dukes were due for a victory Saturday against Stony Brook.
And they came through, finally beating a team from the Coastal Athletic Association as John Hugley IV scored 25 points and Jimmie Williams added 17 to help Duquesne hold off the Seawolves, 84-75, at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
The victory continued an alternating pattern that began Nov. 11 with Duquesne’s fourth consecutive victory to open the season, an 87-81 overtime decision against Queens.
It also improved the Dukes’ record against CAA teams this season to 1-2. In addition to William & Mary, they also lost to Northeastern on Nov. 22 in the Morgan & Morgan Classic in Akron, Ohio.
Duquesne (6-3) seized the lead from Stony Brook for good on two free throws by Hugley with 10 minutes, 47 seconds left in the first half, though the Seawolves made things interesting in the second half.
Stony Brook (6-3) trailed 80-75 with 33 seconds left after the Dukes were up 76-66 at the 3:48 mark.
But Cam Crawford sank a pair of free throws, David Dixon converted 1 of 2 from the line and Jimmie Williams put an exclamation point on the day with a steal and dunk with 10 seconds left.
Jakub Necas added 11 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for Duquesne.
Erik Pratt and Richard Goods scored 19 points apiece to lead Stony Brook, which was coming off a 71-68 victory at Loyola Marymount in the Sunshine Slam Challenge. Rob Brown III added 12 points for the Seahawks, and Goods finished with 10 rebounds.
Duquesne’s largest first-half lead was 15 points, 37-22, on Maximus Edwards’ 3-pointer.
The Dukes, who head west to play Boise State on Wednesday and Nevada on Saturday, led 40-28 at the break.