It was not the most aesthetically pleasing game in the long and storied rivalry between Pitt and Duquesne. In fact, it might have been one of the more mistake-prone contests in the City Game's 78-game history.

But Pitt's 67-58 double-overtime victory was historic, and the 12,336 fans who came out to see the final college basketball game at Mellon Arena went home with a memory of a lifetime.

Pitt (6-1) made its biggest comeback in school history. Trailing by 13 points at halftime and by 16 with 17:32 remaining, the Panthers stormed back to claim an unlikely victory and extend its winning streak in the series to nine games.

Pitt's previous biggest halftime comeback was 12 points, which was accomplished against Duke at Madison Square Garden two years ago.

Pitt now owns a 47-31 advantage in the series and has won 17 of the past 19. Last night's game was the 35th meeting at Mellon Arena, and the way Pitt coach Jamie Dixon saw it from the bench, the No. 1 game in the building's history.

"This one will probably go down as the best one," he said. "Duquesne might disagree with that. I think we really put on a good show in the final game at Mellon Arena."

Pitt sophomore guard Ashton Gibbs was the hero. Gibbs was only 3 for 15 from the field, but he made all three at crucial junctures. His first with 2:03 remaining in regulation tied the score. His second 23 seconds into the second overtime gave the Panthers the lead for good. And his third, with 1:30 remaining in the second overtime, gave the Panthers an insurmountable seven-point lead that sent half the fans to the exits while the other half celebrated.

"I knew they would fall sooner or later," Gibbs said. "Finally, I knocked a couple down."

Gibbs missed his first nine shots from the field and was 1 for 13 before drilling the go-ahead basket at the beginning of the second overtime. That Gibbs came through in the end was not a surprise to his teammates.

"Ashton is in the gym every night," Pitt junior Brad Wanamaker said. "Those are like regular shots for him. He has a big heart. You knew he was going to knock those shots down."

Gibbs led Pitt with 15 points. Wanamaker had 14 and Gary McGhee and Nasir Robinson had 11.

Bill Clark led Duquesne (5-2) with 23 points, but the Dukes only made one field goal in both overtime periods and made two over the final 16 1/2 minutes when Pitt almost exclusively played a 2-3 zone.

"That 2-3 zone kind of messed us up," Clark said.

That would be an understatement. After halftime, the Dukes made just 9 of 41 shots from the field.

Pitt rarely goes away from its man-to-man defense, but Dixon decided to switch after the Dukes shot 48 percent in the first half and led, 33-20, at the intermission.

"They were in a rhythm and we weren't," Dixon said. "We had to change the pace of the game. I can't believe I went to zone that long. It was tough for me to do. But it was working, and we stayed with it."

Pitt had a terrible time getting on track in the first half. The Panthers were 6 for 23 from the field (26 percent) and had nine turnovers. In the first four minutes of the game, the Panthers had three turnovers and a shot clock violation and trailed, 9-3, after Clark made three consecutive 3-pointers to open the contest.

Early in the second half, the Panthers had more problems. After B.J. Monteiro converted a three-point play, the Dukes led, 40-24, and things appeared grim.

"We knew we had to make a run," McGhee said. "We had to figure something out on defense. We went to the 2-3 zone, battled back and got the victory."

At the end of regulation and in the first overtime both teams had opportunities to win, but failed miserably in their execution. At the end of regulation, Duquesne point guard Eric Evans mishandled a pass from Jason Duty and the ball went out of bounds with eight seconds left.

Pitt could not get off a shot, however, as Gibbs fumbled the ball as he attempted to drive toward the basket.

In the second overtime, after Pitt's Lamar Patterson tied the score with 45 seconds left, Clark turned it over with 30 seconds remaining.

"We had opportunities," Dukes coach Ron Everhart said. "We just didn't take advantage of them."

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