Coach Ron Everhart's worst nightmare for the 2008-09 men's basketball season flashed before his eyes just a few feet from his seat on the bench when Aaron Jackson slumped to the court with a grimace and clutched his left leg with just a couple of minutes remaining in a 93-71 victory against Saint Vincent in an exhibition game yesterday at Palumbo Center. Jackson lay on the court while his leg was stretched and massaged before he gingerly walked to the sideline.

Jackson, a 6-foot-4 senior, fell awkwardly after driving to the basket for an acrobatic layup.

"Fortunately it was just a cramp," Everhart said of Jackson, who had 13 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds. "He's a guy we really rely on and when he goes down, that's a big blow for us."

It is Jackson, the only senior on the team, who puts the Dukes into overdrive with his relentless energy.

Everhart may have discovered a running mate for Jackson in the backcourt in freshman Eric Evans, a bullish 5-11 playmaker from Detroit who was runner-up in the Mr. Michigan voting. Evans had 15 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. He didn't commit a turnover.

"He's come in and taken the bull by the horns," Everhart said. "When we need him to score, he's doing that. When we need him to pass, he's doing that."

Evans and 6-5 B.J. Montiero, who was 3 of 5 from 3-point range and had 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks, and 6-4 Melquan Bolding (3 points, 3 assists) received praise from Everhart.

"You'll see Melquan really improve in the next couple weeks when he understands what we're trying to do," Everhart said. "I'm trying to figure out who has some chemistry and who doesn't."

Everhart abandoned the platoon system of substitution he employed last season for a more conventional rotation because eight of the 12 scholarship players on the team are freshmen. Chase Robinson, Rodrigo Peggau, Aleksander Milovic and Shawntez Patterson made cameo appearances late in the game. Oliver Lewinson wasn't in uniform because of a sprained ankle.

"Right now we just need practice time," said Everhart, who will have his Dukes work on their free-throw shooting after going 12 of 31 from the line. "Some of our young guys might have had stage fright the first time they went in."

The Dukes were led by 6-7 sophomore Damian Saunders (17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 steals), a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference rookie team last season.

"He's one of those stat-sheet stuffer guys," Everhart said of Saunders, who had a number of spectacular dunks that included an alley-oop from Montiero, a former teammate at Crosby High School in Waterbury, Conn.

Saint Vincent, which has four starters back from a 22-4 team, was led by 6-7 senior Mike Medved (19 points, 6 rebounds) of Elizabeth Forward High School.

Duquesne plays an exhibition game against Division II Seton Hill Saturday at Palumbo and opens the regular season against High Point of North Carolina Nov. 14 at Palumbo Center.

Kristi Little, a 5-foot-4 senior guard who was named to the Atlantic 10 preseason first team, had 19 points, 10 assists, 6 steals and 6 rebounds to lead the Duquesne's women's team to a 91-44 victory against Team Essence in an exhibition game at Palumbo Center.