Game Story; Denver 79, JMU 72

Friday, December 20

Caguas, P.R.

TBA

James Madison University

3-4

Denver

5-4

Denver

James Madison

12/20/2002 2:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico (12/20/2002) – Brett Starkey's two free throws with 16:40 left in the game put Denver in front to stay, and the Pioneers went on to beat JMU 79-72 in the first round of the San Juan Shootout.

Denver trailed 28-25 at halftime and 30-25 early during the final half before going in front 32-30 behind seven straight points by Erik Benzel. JMU regained the lead briefly on a Dwayne Broyles three-pointer before Starkey gave the Pioneers the lead for good at 34-33.

Despite never regaining the lead during the final 16 minutes, JMU stayed close for most of the remainder of the game. The Dukes trailed only 64-61 before B.J. Pratt's three-pointer gave Denver a 67-61 lead with just more than three minutes left. JMU got to within 67-63 on two Broyles free throws with 2:52 left, but Pratt raised the Denver margin to 69-63 on the following possession.

The Denver lead reached 74-65 on a Rodney Billups free throw with 1:01 left, but a Daniel Freeman field goal got JMU to within 74-67. After JMU failed to convert on three three-point attempts following a Denver turnover, Zeljko Zupic's free throw increased the Pioneers' lead to 75-67 with 36seconds left. David Fanning got JMU to within 75-70 with a three-pointer with 25 seconds to play, but two Pratt free throws with 20 seconds remaining all but sealed the win for Denver.

Pratt led all scorers with 24 points and paced three Denver players in double figures in scoring. He hit on three three-point field goals and on seven straight free throws in 28 minutes. Zupic added 12 points and Starkey 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Pioneers.

Fanning with 17 points and Broyles with 14 were JMU's only double-figure scorers. Fanning had three three-pointers and three assists in 38 minutes, and Broyles, who hadn't practiced for three days after injuring a knee in a win over Florida Atlantic, had two three-pointers in 26 minutes off the bench.

Denver shot only 43.3 percent (26-60) overall but hit on 16 of 28 second-half shots (57.1 percent). JMU shot 41.0 percent (25-61) and hit on six of 21 three-point tries (28.6 percent). Denver had a 43-41 rebounding advantage and turned the ball over 16 times to JMU's 19. Denver hit on 22 of 37 free throws while JMU converted on 16 of 25. Denver committed 24 fouls and JMU 32.

Ian Caskill had nine points and nine rebounds and Wes Miller a career-high nine points for JMU. JMU starting point guard Chris Williams played only 17 minutes because of foul problems.