Game Story; JMU 87, Virginia Military 59

Monday, November 20

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7:00 PM

James Madison University

VMI

VIRGINIA MILITARY

JAMES MADISON

11/20/2000 10:45:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. (11/20/2000) – Tim Lyle led five Dukes in double figures in scoring, and JMU erased a 22-point first-half deficit to win its season-opener 87-69 over Virginia Military.

VMI controlled the first 14 minutes, using a pressure defense and sharp shooting to build a 37-15 lead with 5:59 left in the first half. Daron Pressley scored 11 of his 14 points to spark the Keydets on a 26-4 scoring run after the teams were tied 11-11 4:30 into the contest. The Keydets hit on 10 of their first 14 shots overall and five of their first six three-point attempts.

However, JMU gradually took command, cutting the lead to 46-36 by halftime and outscoring Virginia Military 64-23 during a 24-minute span. JMU started the second half with a 15-2 scoring run, and David Fanning's short jumper with 15:18 remaining put the Dukes in front to stay at 49-48. JMU led 67-58 with 7:33 to play and 79-60 with 1:57 left.

Lyle had a game-high 20 points and nine rebounds; Fanning had career highs of 19 points and 10 assists; Mickey Dennis came off the bench for 13 points and seven rebounds; Dwayne Braxton had 13 points; and Ian Caskill had career highs of 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Dukes. During the second half, when JMU had a 51-23 scoring edge, Lyle had 14 points, Fanning 13 and Dennis 10.

Fanning's 10 assists were the most in a game by a JMU player since Ben Gordon had 12 in a 1987-88 game.

JMU shot 54.2 percent (32-59) overall and 60.7 percent (17-28) during the final half and had a 41-29 rebounding edge. VMI shot 29.2 percent (7-24) during the final half after shooting 51.5 percent (17-33) during the first period and hit on but nine of 24 three-point tries despite its quick start. The Keydets had but four field goals during the first 18 minutes of the second half.

The game was the first JMU-VMI meeting since 1990-91 when Keydets' coach Bart Bellairs was a JMU assistant coach.