WASHINGTON — Mighty, mighty Duke let teeny, tiny Belmont play with the big boys. And, for stretches, get the better of them.

No. 2-seeded Duke actually trailed in the final 15 seconds before barely avoiding the monumental upset, using every last one of Gerald Henderson's 21 points to edge No. 15 Belmont 71-70 in the first round of the West Regional today.

While Belmont couldn't quite pull off the stunner, it was surprising enough how close this game was. In a matchup between a school with three NCAA titles — that would be Duke, of course — and another that never has won a game in the tournament, it was Henderson's driving basket with 11.9 seconds left that erased Belmont's final lead.

After ACC defensive player of the year DeMarcus Nelson stole the ensuing inbounds pass, he was fouled, but he missed at the line. Belmont got the rebound, and one final chance to make history, with 2.2 seconds left. The Bruins' leading scorer, Justin Hare, got a good look at the basket from about 35 feet away, but his shot clanged off the iron. He winced, and Duke celebrated as though it had won far more than an opening-round game — something it actually failed to do a year ago.

Duke (28-5) advanced this time to face Arizona or West Virginia on Saturday.

And Belmont (25-9) can go home with heads held high.

Throughout the game, the teams' body language was telling at timeouts.

More than once, Belmont's players would be trailing, yet they skipped to the sideline and were met with high-fives, pats on the back and yells of encouragement. Duke's players, in the lead but hardly thrilled, trudged over slowly, some looking at the floor.

Only four No. 15s have beaten No. 2s, and there were moments it seemed as though it could happen again.

Duke led 69-65 with 2:40 left, but Andy Wicke (team-high 15 points) made a 3-pointer to cut it to one. And after a Duke miss, Hare grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and made both free throws to give Belmont the lead — yes, the lead! — with 2:02 left in the game.

There it was, plain as could be on the overhead scoreboard, orange numbering on a black background: Belmont 70, Duke 69.

The Bruins couldn't possibly pull this off, could they?

After all, in the Bruins' previous two trips to March Madness, they had led briefly in the first half before getting beaten by more than 20 points — against UCLA in 2006, against Georgetown last year.

Alas, on this night, on the verge of beating one of the sport's most storied programs, Belmont would not score again.

Duke led 42-35 at halftime, an edge built at the foul line, where the Blue Devils were 11-for-15, and the Bruins were 2-for-4.

Otherwise, in nearly every regard, Belmont played Duke even for those first 20 minutes. The field-goal stats were the exact same: 14-for-29.