ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Sure, Ron Everhart was disappointed after Duquesne was eliminated by a point in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

Losing 78-77 to Saint Louis hurt. The pain, though, was insignificant to the other emotion Everhart was feeling — pride.

In his first year as Duquesne's coach, Everhart took over a team that went 3-24 last year and then went through the tragedy of seeing five basketball players shot in an on-campus incident in September. No one gave up, though, and the Dukes managed to win 10 games and make the conference tournament with guts.

The never-give-up style was there for all to see Wednesday night when Duquesne was one play away from advancing to the second round. The Dukes (10-19) couldn't make it, or, more truthfully, Saint Louis (19-12) prevented them from making it with a late block by Kevin Lisch.

"I will always look back on this year as one where I am very, very proud of the effort our kids gave throughout, the way they handled adversity and they way they handled success, the way they handled failure," Everhart said. "I thought it was very mature and very resilient.

"I think in that way, along with the fact that all the kids who got shot stood up and walked out of that hospital, probably has been one of the most rewarding years of my life."

It also has turned into one of the feel-good stories in sports this season. People in and around Pittsburgh and the nation have supported this team, and the players have done all that has been asked of them.

"I'm very proud of my guys," Duquesne center Kieron Achara said. "I am very proud to be a part of Duquesne. Everyone has been very supportive of us this year, and we have never given up. We have kept on playing at all times."

That was obvious in the final minutes after Tommie Liddell hit a go-ahead layup with 2:00 to play to put Saint Louis ahead 78-76.

After missing its next shot, Duquesne forced Saint Louis into a shot clock violation, only to lose the ball on a turnover with less than 40 seconds to play.

Ian Vouyoukas missed the front end of a one-and-one with 28.1 seconds to play, giving the Dukes the ball back.

Scott Grote got the rebound of a missed shot with 7.6 seconds to play and was fouled. He made the first, but the 80-percent free throw shooter missed the second.

The Dukes got one final chance when Vouyoukas again missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 6.2 seconds left, but Lisch stripped the ball from Aaron Jackson as he went to shoot with about two seconds to play. Jackson got an off-balance shot off after recovering the ball, but it was uncertain whether it would have counted.

"Lisch played real good defense on me," Jackson said. "He played me to dribble and, as soon as I dribbled, he got in front of me and I lost the ball. I was forced to put up a Hail Mary at the end of the game."

Saint Louis will face second-seeded Massachusetts (23-7) in one of four second-round games at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

The first thing Saint Louis coach Brad Soderburg did after the game was compliment Duquesne.

"Kudos to them on an incredible season in light of the incredible circumstances that they had to work through," Soderburg said.

Vouyoukas had 19 points and nine rebounds for the seventh-seeded Billikens. Lisch added 18 points, while Luke Meyer — who had a key strip with less than 40 seconds to play— had 16 and Liddell added 14.

Grote, who was 3-of-6 from the foul line, and Achara had 14 points apiece for Duquesne, which finished the season with an eight-game losing streak. Robert Mitchell added 12 points, Gary Tucker had 11 and Reggie Jackson 10.