PITTSBURGH — London Warren had his share of trouble handling the ball, but Duquesne coach Ron Everhart was still happy to see the Dayton point guard go to the bench with foul trouble on Sunday, Feb. 21.

After sitting out huge chunks, Warren fouled out with 1:19 to go, putting backup Rob Lowery in the game for the stretch run.

“The key was our pressure,” Everhart said. “When Warren got in foul trouble, those were big fouls. It put Lowery in the game, and we really tried to pressure him. We gave up some easy shots, but we were rewarded by getting steals and scoring in transition.”

The Flyers committed a ghastly 21 turnovers — 10 from Warren (four) and Lowery (six) — in absorbing a 73-71 defeat before a Palumbo Center crowd of 5,144 (about 200 short of capacity).

Lowery committed two of his gaffes in the final 68 seconds. With UD leading by two after an 8-0 run, he was stripped near midcourt and had to foul a streaking Damian Saunders, who made one of two free throws.

The Flyers (18-8, 7-5 Atlantic 10) couldn’t get a shot off on their next possession after Lowery was trapped and lost the ball out of bounds with 39 seconds to go. The Dukes (15-12, 6-7) took the lead on a drive by Saunders (20 points) with 25 seconds left, but UD had two more chances after that.

Chris Johnson, who made six 3-pointers among his game-high 21 points, had an open trey with 12 seconds left but missed. The Flyers fouled Bill Clark with 9.6 seconds to go. He made one of two for a 73-71 edge, and UD went back to Johnson for a final fling. His contested 18-footer, though, missed badly as the clock expired.

The Flyers’ season is rapidly becoming known for its final-minute futility. Their five league losses have come by a combined 11 points.

“I don’t know what to say. I hurt. I hurt a lot,” junior forward Chris Wright said. “It’s a hard pill to swallow. It’s just (making) better decisions in certain situations.”