ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Duquesne's basketball season is finished because the Dukes never figured out how to finish a game.

In yet another frustrating defeat in which Duquesne failed to execute down the stretch, the Dukes lost to the La Salle Explorers, 82-79, in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament last night at Boardwalk Hall.

After Reggie Jackson's 3-pointer gave Duquesne a 79-76 lead with 1:47 remaining, the Dukes committed three turnovers in the final minute. The most damaging miscue came on Kojo Mensah's pass that sailed out of bounds with 13.7 seconds to play and the Dukes trailing by a point.

Duquesne fouled La Salle's Ruben Guillandeaux with 12.7 seconds to go. He made both free throws to give the Explorers an 82-79 advantage. After timeouts by each team, Duquesne brought the ball up the floor and could have sent the game into overtime but Gary Tucker's contested 3-pointer from the wing ricocheted off the back rim as time ran out.

"They played good defense, but when it left my hand I saw it going in," Tucker said. "I thought I made it."

The 10th-seeded Dukes (17-13), who had their biggest lead of the game at 72-65 with a little more than five minutes left, lost nine of 10 games this season decided by seven points or fewer.

Seventh-seeded La Salle (15-16), which ended a three-game losing streak, will play No. 2 Temple (18-12) in the quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. today.

Temple had a bye in the first round.

Darnell Harris, a 6-foot-1 senior, made a 25-foot 3-pointer with a hand in his face to pull the Explorers into a 79-79 standoff with 57 seconds left. After a Duquesne turnover, Rodney Green made one of two free throws to give the Explorers an 80-79 lead with 23.8 seconds remaining.

The Dukes turned it over again, and Guillandeaux completed the scoring.

"The difference is they had Darnell Harris and we didn't have someone like him," Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said. "We knew they were going to Harris."

Duquesne wasted a career-high 29 points from senior guard Reggie Jackson and an inspirational performance by 6-foot-10 Shawn James, who played through pain in his right shoulder that kept him out of a game and limited him to just six minutes in the season-finale. James had 8 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocked shots and made life miserable for La Salle's shooters around the basket.

All that is left for Duquesne is to think about the opportunities it let slip away in what was a season of exhilarating highs and depressing lows.

The season started with a big bang and an explosion of points for the Dukes, fizzled down the stretch, then ended with a whimper. Duquesne finished with six losses in the final seven games.

Although Duquesne registered its first winning record and most wins since going 17-13 in 1994-95, it didn't live up to the early expectations that began with a 4-0 exhibition record on a trip to Toronto over Labor Day and reached a crescendo with a 6-0 start to the season.

Everhart's "1040" system produced a lot of points and brought people back to the Palumbo Center to watch the Dukes, but in the end they lacked a consistent 3-point threat, a 'go-to' player and a power forward to seriously challenge in the A-10.

"We played great for 38 minutes," Everhart said. "We didn't play well for 1 1/2 minutes.

"I gotta believe we don't have a lot of confidence down the stretch. When you don't come away with a win in a game like this, it's really disappointing."