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Late 3-pointers push Duke past Maryland

Feb 26, 2009 - 6:04 AM COLLEGE PARK, Maryland (Ticker) -- In a contest that featured 13 ties and 12 lead changes, Duke used a few timely outside shots to finally create separation down the stretch.

Gerald Henderson scored 19 points and freshman Elliot Williams added 15 as No. 7 Duke pulled away for a 78-67 victory over Maryland on Wednesday.

Kyle Singler had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Jon Scheyer scored 12 for the Blue Devils (23-5, 9-4 ACC), who have won three straight games.

"It was definitely a big, big win for us," Singler said. "We knew coming in it would be a tough game. Maryland is playing well after their big win against North Carolina. But we stuck together and at the end of the game, we hit big shots. We were able to lengthen the lead and get stops on defense."

Neither team led by more than four for the opening 35 minutes of the game until Henderson and Singler made consecutive 3-pointers to give Duke a 66-60 advantage with 4:33 remaining.

Maryland (17-10, 6-7) never got back in it as Greivis Vasquez fouled out with 3:24 left and Scheyer hit a big 3-pointer from the right wing to give Duke a 72-63 lead with 1:54 to play.

"Our guys came through with some workman-like performances," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Elliot (Williams) came up with some loose-ball buckets off offensive rebounds that either tied the game or put us two points ahead. He made the pass of the game, when he made the extra pass to Jon (Scheyer), and that 3-point shot was huge."

Landon Milbourne scored 19 points to lead the Terrapins, who was coming off an 88-86 overtime victory over then-No. 3 North Carolina on Saturday. Vasquez, who had Maryland's first triple-double in 22 years against North Carolina, scored 10 points.

"We have a darn good basketball team," Terrapins coach Gary Williams said. "We played really hard tonight. We didn't get the win, but you know what, I know what we did out there tonight and how hard we worked to get where we had a chance to win that game. I'm really proud of the players and the team for what they did in getting ready, especially this last series of games that we've had."

Greg Paulus' 3-pointer with under one minute to play in the first half knotted the score at 34-34 and Milbourne blocked Brian Zoubek's layup to keep the game tied heading into the locker rooms.

Henderson's ferocious dunk gave Duke a 45-42 lead but Eric Hayes answered with a 3-pointer to tie the score with 14:48 left. The teams traded baskets for several minutes and Adrian Bowie made a pair from the line to make it a 56-56 game with 8:32 remaining.

"We wanted to come out and prove tonight that we are capable of beating a team like (the Blue Devils)," Hayes said. "Even though we lost, I think we proved to a lot of people we are capable of beating a team like Duke."

Milbourne's layup put the Terrapins in front before Williams scored a pair of layups to give the Blue Devils a 60-58 lead. Milbourne answered with a pair from the line to tie the score with 5:44 to play.