AMHERST, Mass. -- This has not been a trip the Duquesne basketball team has circled on its calendar. After all, it had been 20 years since the Dukes last beat Massachusetts on the Minutemen's home court. That all ended last night.

"Duquesne hasn't had a lot of success here and neither have I," said Aaron Jackson, the Dukes' lone senior after beating Massachusetts, 94-77. "We really needed this win to clear the clouds over our heads against a team that had been beating us."

Led by Bill Clark's 22 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, five Dukes scored in double figures. The Dukes (17-9, 8-5 Atlantic 10) were 0-7 at the Mullins Center and had lost four at Curry Hicks Cage. Jackson finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists.

"Last year was just the beginning of the improvement of Duquesne basketball," added Damian Saunders, who had 18 points and seven rebounds. "This year, we decided to take it among ourselves to really show what we can do in the A-10."

The 16-point win was the largest margin of victory for the Dukes at Massachusetts, and it marks the best start for a Duquesne team since an 18-8 start in 1981. The last time the Dukes won at Amherst was Jan. 14, 1989.

"I have to give our kids a lot of credit. I thought we played with a lot of energy, we shared the basketball and I thought we guarded well," said Duquesne coach Ron Everhart. "I don't think I'd have ever said we'd have won a game where our opponent scored 16 3-point baskets in a game."

The Minutemen made a school-record 16 3-pointers, and the 35 shots from beyond the arc also broke a Massachusetts record.

Massachusetts led by as many as six points in the first half before the Dukes rallied to take a 46-35 lead. The Dukes came out after halftime and extended the lead to 21 points, essentially taking the Minutemen and the small crowd of 3,321 out of the game.

In a first half where the teams combined for 81 points, it was a defensive stand by the Dukes that gave them the lead.

Duquesne took the lead on a 3-pointer by Eric Evans with eight minutes to play, but Massachusetts tied the score on a 3-pointer by Anthony Gurley with 5:12 left. The Minutemen made only one more basket the rest of the half.

From that point, the Dukes went on a 15-4 run.

"The defensive mind-set was that this is the postseason. This is for something that we want to set ourselves up, so we can play after the [regular] season is over," said Jackson.

B.J. Montiero dunked off a pass from Evans, putting the Dukes ahead for keeps with 4:31 left in the first half.

"We punched, they punched back, and we didn't punch back again," said Massachusetts guard Anthony Gurley, who came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points.

With the win and Saint Louis' loss, the Dukes are alone in fifth place in the A-10 with three games to play, and they still have a shot at the first-round bye in next month's conference tournament.