Atlantic City, NJ -- (Sports Network) - Aaron Jackson and Melquan Bolding poured in 24 points each, as seventh-seeded Duquesne downed third-seeded Dayton, 77-66, in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Boardwalk Hall.
Jackson added five boards and five assists for the Dukes (21-11), who advance to play fourth-seeded Temple in the A-10 final Saturday. Bolding pulled down six rebounds for Duquesne. Damian Saunders ended with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Eric Evans added 12 points off the bench.
The Dukes will be playing in their third title match. They beat Villanova in the 1977 title match, but lost the 1981 final to Pittsburgh.
Mickey Perry scored 15 points off the bench to lead a balanced Dayton attack. Charles Little finished with 13 points and six boards for the Flyers (26-7), who took both regular season games from the Dukes. Chris Wright and Marcus Johnson ended with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Despite the loss, Dayton still holds a commanding 42-19 advantage in the all- time series with Duquesne.
Ahead 49-41 with just over 11 1/2 minutes remaining, Duquesne essentially sealed the game with a 12-2 run to extend their lead to 61-43. Bolding made a layup before he drilled a trey to culminate the flurry with 6:45 to go.
Dayton cut the deficit to nine multiple times in the final minutes, but the Dukes were able to hold off the Flyers and preserve the victory.
After a back-and-forth battle for a majority of the first half, Duquesne -- ahead by two -- used a 10-3 flurry to extend their margin to 31-22. Bolding had a pair of three-pointers during the surge including a trey to end the run with over 3 1/2 minutes left until half.
A Saunders layup as time expired in the first stanza gave the Dukes a 35-29 advantage heading into the locker room. Duquesne shot 55.6 percent from the field in the half, while Dayton hit just 42.3 percent of their shots.
