DURHAM, N.C. -- Nobody expected Vermont to give No. 6 Duke much of a scare. Yet the Catamounts found a way to score seemingly at will against a program built on defence, and they came perhaps a moment shy of pulling the biggest upset of the young season. Duke needed a free throw from Rodney Hood with 5 seconds left and one final defensive stand to hold off Vermonts upset bid and beat the Catamounts 91-90 on Sunday night. Hector Harold scored 24 points and Clancy Rugg finished with 20 for Vermont (1-5). The America East favourites lost their fourth straight, dressed only nine healthy players but gave Duke all it could handle with by far its best shooting performance of the season. They "came into Duke with no pressure on us, and we played like there was no pressure on us," coach John Becker said. "Maybe this is a lesson learned for our guys." Vermont shot 64.8 per cent -- by far, its best performance of the season and the worst defensive showing by Duke. "We compete and play defence every game and every day at practice," Becker said. "Tonight, the ball went through the basket, and we were able to hang around with a really good team." Candon Rusins four-point play with 10.4 seconds left for Vermont tied it at 90. Hood brought the ball downcourt, drove the lane and drew contact from Rugg. Hood bounced his first free throw off the rim, then swished the second. Sandro Carissimo hurried the Catamounts downcourt and found Rusin in the corner, but he couldnt get a shot off before the buzzer. "We didnt win this game," Hood said. "We kind of deserved to lose the game, and we got lucky." Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said the Catamounts "were terrific." "And we were awful," he added. Jabari Parker scored 26 points in his sixth straight 20-point performance. Hood finished with 22 for Duke (5-1), which extended its nonconference winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 106 games. Barely. "We played like a team that thought we would just show up and win," Krzyzewski said. "Thats how you get beat." Andre Dawkins scored 16 points and Quinn Cook added 14 for the Blue Devils. Cook broke a tie with a 3-pointer with just under 2 minutes left that made it 86-83. They stretched their lead to 88-84 on Rasheed Sulaimons free throw with 40.8 seconds to play before Carissimo made it a two-point game with his tip-in with 29 seconds remaining. Cook seemingly gave Duke a cushion when his two free throws with 19.4 seconds left made it 90-86 -- but when Sulaimon fouled Rusin on his deep 3-pointer, the Catamounts had another chance. Carissimo finished with 16 points and Luke Apfeld had 10 for Vermont, which fell to 3-17 against ACC schools and is winless against all of them except for Boston College. Yet the Catamounts looked plenty capable of taking advantage of a ripe Duke team that struggled all night to stop them. "Were not connected on the defensive end," Hood said. When the Blue Devils built a 61-49 lead on Parkers steal and fast-break dunk with 15 1/2 minutes left, that looked like the spark that would get the sluggish Duke defence going. Instead, Vermont reeled off 10 straight points after that as part of a 13-2 run. Harolds three-point play pulled the Catamounts to 63-62 with just over 11 minutes left. Carissimos free throw with 7:50 left tied it at 71. Harolds 3 from the key about a minute later put Vermont up 74-73 -- its first lead since early in the first half -- and neither team led by more than four points the rest of the way. Paul Millsap Nuggets Jersey .com) - Jahlil Okafor had 21 points, Tyus Jones scored 16 with 10 assists and No. Tyler Lydon Jersey . 4 jersey of former defenseman Rob Blake this coming season. The ceremony will take place prior to the Kings January 17 game against Anaheim. http://www.authenticnuggetsproshop.com/Gary-Harris-Jersey/. Wheeler scored at 4:58 of overtime, with Scheifele getting an assist, and the Jets beat the slumping Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Sunday night. Gary Harris Nuggets Jersey .com) - James Harden needed just seven made field goals to drop 35 points on the Philadelphia 76ers, leading the Houston Rockets to a 104-93 win on Monday. Alex English Jersey . Alfredo Simon lowered his ERA to 0.86, and the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Friday for their 16th win in their last 17 games at the Friendly Confines. SUN CITY, South Africa -- The first time he met Nelson Mandela, Gary Player got on his knees and kissed the former political prisoners feet. Remembering his "very tearful" first encounter with Mandela, the nine-time major winner paused Friday to compose himself and hold back more tears. Mandela, the beloved former South African president and Nobel laureate, died Thursday at 95. Renowned as a fierce competitor on the golf course, Player was invited to meet Mandela at his office in Johannesburg after the anti-apartheid leaders release after 27 years in prison. But he didnt expect to do what he did, Player said. "I knelt down and I kissed his feet and I said, I have never kissed anybodys feet in my life, and I said, I have so much admiration for you. I said to him, It is remarkable, how can you not have revenge?" Mandelas reply, according to Player, was: "You have got to start a new life and forgive and go ahead." Player, speaking at the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, said Mandelas ability to inspire with compassion left him amazed then -- and still does. "It was very tearful for me, because when you think of a man that has gone to jail foor all those years for doing the right thing, not the wrong thing, it is hard to comprehend that a man can come out and be like that," Player said.dddddddddddd "He was an exceptional man." From that first meeting, Player and Mandela would cross paths regularly as the golfer, one of South Africas greatest sportsmen, worked with the president on charity projects. Once, Player remembered with a big smile, Mandela landed at a charity tournament in a helicopter to lend support. "I had to meet him when the helicopter arrived and open the door. Now I had been around him all these years raising money for young black children and I opened the door, and he says Good morning Gary, do you remember me?" Player recalled, imitating Mandelas unique rasping voice. "Just wonderful." Although Player wasnt sure if he ever saw Mandela swing a golf club, he knew that the anti-apartheid leader "realized the value of sport" and even followed Players career overseas while he was imprisoned by South Africas former racist regime. "He said to me, When I was in jail, I used to watch you playing. He was very complimentary," Player said. ' ' '