Game Story; JMU 73, Florida Atlantic 70

Saturday, December 20

Boca Raton, Fla.

TBA

James Madison University

3-4

Florida Atlantic

4-3

James Madison Univ.

Florida Atlantic

12/20/2003 12:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. (12/20,2003) – Dwayne Broyles gave JMU its first lead of the final half with a three-pointer with 49 second to play and added two free throws with 11.4 seconds left to cap a rally from an 11-point deficit as the Dukes won 73-70 at Florida Atlantic. Broyles' three-point fieldgoal put JMU in front 71-70, and his conversion on both attempts of a one-and-one free throw opportunity at the 11.4-second mark provided the game's final points.

Broyles's final-minute scoring completed a 16-2 JMU scoring run during the contest's last 4:28. The Dukes had rallied from a nine-point deficit early during the second half to get to within 56-54 midway through the final period before Florida Atlantic appeared to have taken control, charging to a 68-57 advantage on a Jimmy Bishop field goal and free throw with 5:12 remaining. However, the host Owls didn't have a field goal the rest of the way while JMU got scoring from four players.

Daniel Freeman started the Dukes' burst with two free throws with 4:28 to play, and consecutive field goals by Chris Cathlin got JMU to within 68-63 with 3:39 left. Two more Freeman free throws with 2:25 remaining pulled JMU to within 69-65 after Florida Atlantic's Rob Williams hit on one of two free throw attempts at the 3:12 mark, and a three-point field goal by Ray Barbosa with 1:58 left cut the deficit to 69-68.

Kahleaf Watson raised the Florida lead to 70-68 with a free throw with 1:05 to play, but Broyles connected on his key three-pointer on the following JMU possession. The Owls missed on a three-point attempt with Freeman rebounding to set up Broyles's free throws with 11.4 seconds left, and they missed on a three-point try at the buzzer.

JMU rallied from a seven-point first-half deficit to within 34-33 only to see a Florida Atlantic three-pointer at the horn raise the Owls' edge to 37-33.

Florida Atlantic led 52-43 with 14:08 left before the Dukes got to within 56-54 and 60-57 during a string of 14 straight JMU points by Barbosa.

Broyles had a game-high 24 points, seven rebounds, a career-high five steals, three assists and two blocked shots in 39 minutes. He had two three-pointers and hit on six straight free throw attempts. He had 15 points during the first half.

Barbosa added 21 points for the Dukes, including 17 after halftime. He had four three-pointers during the second half and his 14 straight JMU points (nine on three-pointers) came during a five-minute span. Cathlin added 14 points and nine rebounds for JMU.

JMU shot 40.7 percent and Florida Atlantic 40.9 percent, the Dukes had a 41-40 rebounding edge, and both teams had 19 turnovers. However, JMU converted on 19 of 20 free throws while Florida Atlantic hit on only nine of 18. JMU had six three-pointers to Florida Atlantic's seven, but all of the Owls' long-ranged field goals came during the opening half.