After opening the Paradise Jam tournament with a loss to Southern Illinois, the Colorado Buffaloes rebounded and defeated Duquesne, 84-76in overtime, Saturday in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Trailing 35-29 at halftime, the Buffs fell behind by 11 points not even two minutes into the second half. Over the next three-plus minutes, the Buffs battled back and pulled within 42-41 on Tristan da Silva's dunk with 15:07 remaining.
But the Dukes responded with a 18-8 run and led 60-49 at the 7:29 mark.
The Buffs were not done.
da Silva's free throw tied the game at 60 with 5:05 left. It was close from there to the end of regulation.
Tre Williams put Duquesne up 68-66 with 21 seconds left before daSilva drained a three-pointer from the corner with two seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
Despite never leading in regulation, the Buffs scored the first five points of the extra session and held the Dukes without a point for the first 1:52. Jabari Walker's two free throws with 24 seconds left capped an 8-0 Colorado run and the Buffs were back in the win column.
Evan Battey led CU with 18 points. Walker had 13 points and 13 rebounds. da Silva added 10 big points.
Colorado (4-1) will get Sunday off before closing out action in the tournament against Brown University from the Ivy League on Monday. Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. MST on 630 KHOW.