Washington, DC -- (Sports Network) - Gerald Henderson scored a game-high 21 points and drove the length of the court for a layup with 11.9 seconds remaining to give Duke a thrilling 71-70 win over Belmont, as the second- seeded Blue Devils avoided a huge upset in the first round of the West Region of the NCAA Tournament.

The Bruins (25-9), on the heels of their third consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference tournament title, held a one-point lead with less than two minutes to go, but failed to become the fifth No. 15 seed to advance. The last time it happened was in 2001 when Hampton stunned Iowa State.

The Blue Devils (28-5) advanced to play West Virginia on Saturday, as the seventh-seeded Mountaineers beat Arizona, 75-65.

Duke nearly set a dubious program mark by being eliminated in the first round of the tourney for a second straight year. In 2007, the Blue Devils were a sixth seed in the West and were beaten by Virginia Commonwealth.

Never before has Duke lost in the first round two straight years, but it nearly happened to Mike Krzyzewski's team at the Verizon Center thanks mostly to scrappy play from the Bruins, who have yet to win a game in the tourney.

"Watching them on tape they looked really good. Watching them in person they're even better," Krzyzewski said. "They played with great verve and they're just real difficult to defend. And I thought they played really good defense against us. In saying that, like the last nine minutes of the game, I thought our team had incredible game pressure on it. One, it's the NCAA's. Two, you're supposedly supposed to win. But even more importantly, they're really playing well. And you have to figure out how to win."

Jon Scheyer had 13 points, Greg Paulus 12 and Kyle Singler 11 for the Blue Devils. Henderson also had seven rebounds and five of Duke's 11 steals, but the Blue Devils had to overcome a shoddy 11-of-29 performance from the floor over the final 20 minutes to advance.

Alex Renfroe ended with 15 points, while Matthew Dotson and Andy Wicke each had 14 for Belmont, which forced 15 turnovers.

Justin Hare's two free throws gave Belmont a 70-69 lead with 2:02 remaining, but the Bruins couldn't capitalize on numerous opportunities in the final two minutes.

Greg Paulus then missed on a drive to the basket for Duke, but Hare was off on a leaner in the lane with barely over a minute left.

After a timeout, Henderson couldn't connect on the hook in the lane and Henry Harris got the rebound for the Bruins, who called timeout with 47.9 seconds to go.

However, Alex Renfroe missed on a wild shot in the lane. Henderson got the rebound, and knifed through the Belmont defense before scoring.

"Coach said if we get the ball push from the court to get them off balance," Henderson said. "Right when I got to the three-point line I saw there was a lane and I just went up and just finished it. I knew we needed a two, so just take it to the basket strong."

Hare then missed a short shot on the right baseline, but the ball went back to Belmont on a tie-up with four seconds left.

The inbounds pass from Renfroe was off the mark in the lane, and DeMarcus Nelson corralled the ball for Duke before being fouled.

"The play was for me to throw a lob toward the center of the lane in front of the rim for Shane (Dansby) for a tip-in or whatever he could do with it," Renfroe said. "There was a lot of pressure on the ball and I didn't really get a clear look...should have been smarter and called a timeout or just taken my time, just to look a little longer before I made a silly pass."

The Bruins were given life though when Nelson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 2.7 seconds left.

Out of a timeout with 2.2 seconds to go, the Bruins got the ball to Hare, whose shot from near half-court was off the mark to the left side as time expired, and Duke breathed a sigh of relief.

"I've coached in 89 of these games now and I told the guys as far as game pressure goes, this has to rank in the top three or four," Krzyzewski said. "And hopefully the people at Belmont take that as a real compliment, because they should be complimented."

This was the third consecutive season that Belmont earned the 15th seed in the tournament. In 2006 the Bruins were defeated handily by UCLA, and last year Belmont fell to Georgetown by 25. However, a year later head coach Rick Byrd had his team ready for possibly one of the biggest upsets in the tourney's history, and with Belmont alum Vince Gill on hand and leading on the feverish cheers, the Bruin fans were singing the upset tune down the stretch until the final seconds.

"Certainly this is a disappointing moment for our team and our program and our young men," Byrd said. "To put forth the kind of effort we put forth, to be so close, so very close to getting a huge win for our school and then you have to go in and talk to a bunch of kids who are crying and lost the game."

Duke was ahead by as many as 10 in the second half, and Henderson's layup extended the margin to 49-39 inside of 18 minutes remaining. However, Belmont rallied and closed within 51-50 on a three from Hare.

Eight straight points later gave the Bruins a 58-56 lead, with Renfroe's three-point play providing the edge with 11 minutes to go.

Duke came back with the next seven points, capped by an incredible three- pointer by Scheyer from the right corner. He was fouled on the play, but missed the free throw, and Duke later extended to a 69-65 lead, but fell behind as Wicke connected on a three-ball, and then after Nelson missed a shot, Hare hit his two foul shots.

It was a tight first half, but Duke scored the final four points for a 42-35 edge, with Taylor King hitting a fallaway shot just before the buzzer.

"With the way they shoot the ball, in the first half they did a great job, not only making threes, but getting some easy baskets off the backdoor cuts," Paulus said. "When you've got shooters like that one through five, they've got some guys that can put the ball on the floor."

Game Notes:

Duke is making its 32nd NCAA Tournament appearance, including its 13th straight tournament berth...Renfroe, Dotson and Wicke combined to shoot 18-of-28 from the field, while the rest of Belmont's team was 8-of-31...The Blue Devils are 21-5 all-time when seeded second in the tournament. Duke has reached four Final Fours when seeded second in the tournament. Last year's loss to VCU snapped a string of nine consecutive Sweet 16 appearances...Belmont is 0-3 all-time in the NCAA tourney and 0-5 all-time versus teams from the ACC.