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RICHMOND, Ky. – Three James Madison players tallied double-doubles as the visiting Dukes defeated the Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team Wednesday night in McBrayer Arena, 82-71. With the win, James Madison (4-1) ended Eastern's (2-4) seven game home winning streak.
The Dukes controlled play on the boards all night long, outrebounding Eastern Kentucky, 42-22. Terrance Carter, Abdulai Jalloh and Juwann James each hauled in 10 rebounds. Those three players also finished in double figures in the scoring column led by Carter's 17 points.
Junior
Mike Rose paced the Colonels with 21 points while senior
Darnell Dialls chipped in with 15 tallies on a perfect 6-for-6 from the field.
The Colonels, playing their first home game in two weeks, started the contest in grand fashion by building an 18-7 cushion. Eastern hit 3-of-4 (75 percent) three-point shots during that stretch, but then went 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) the rest of the way.
James Madison slowly chipped away at the deficit and took its first lead at 23-22 when Jalloh netted a jumper with 5:08 remaining in the first half. After a Dialls layup briefly gave Eastern the lead again, the Dukes went on a 14-3 spurt to stretch their advantage to 37-27. Heiden Ratner keyed JMU's run with a pair of three-point baskets.
Eastern Kentucky fought back to even the score three times early in the second half, but would never regain the lead. Sophomore
Josh Taylor sparked the Colonels after the break with a pair of buckets, including a three-pointer, to knot the score at 37-all. An
Adam Leonard lay-in at 14:18 leveled the score one last time at 44-apiece.
From there, James Madison responded with six straight points and did not look back. EKU made one final charge to cut the deficit to five points with two minutes left only to see the Dukes knock down 10-of-12 (83.3 percent) free throws down the stretch.
Eastern Kentucky was not as fortunate on the free throw line against James Madison. The home team missed 11 free throws while shooting 56 percent (14-of-25) from the charity stripe.
The Colonels return to action on Saturday, Dec. 1, with a home game against Horizon League foe Youngstown State. Tip time is slated for 6 p.m.
