Game Story; La Salle 79, JMU 71

Wednesday, December 3

Philadelphia, Pa.

TBA

James Madison University

2-2

La Salle

1-4

James Madison

La Salle

12/3/2003 12:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (12/3/2003) – JMU rallied from an early 17-point deficit but couldn't hold on in the final minutes in falling 79-71 at La Salle.

The Dukes trailed 14-0 five minutes into the game and 29-12 after 12 minutes. They cut the edge to 42-33 by halftime and went up 62-61 on a free throw by Chris Williams with 5:41 left. They raised their advantage to 65-61 on a three-pointer by Dwayne Broyles with 5:23 left but missed shots on their next two possessions and then had a turnover as La Salle ran off 10 straight points to lead 71-65.

JMU got to within 71-69 on a Williams field goal with 2:08 to play and to within 74-71 on a Broyles bucket with 1:14 left before La Salle hit on five of six free throws during the final 1:06.

Broyles led JMU's rally with 13 second-half points and had a team-leading 20 points overall. The Dukes also got a season-high 15 points off the bench from Daniel Freeman and a career-high nine off the bench from John Naparlo.

Broyles had four three-point field goals, including three during the final half, and he also led the Dukes with eight rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes. He hit on eight of 16 shots overall and on four of nine three-point tries.

Freeman, who had his fourth career double-figure scoring performance, played a season-high 23 minutes and had a career-high six rebounds and two assists. He hit on five of 11 shots and had a three-pointer.

La Salle, which shot 60 percent (30-50), got a career-high 27 points from Steven Smith. Smith hit on 11 of 15 shots, including two of three on three-point tries, and he had a game-high 13 rebounds and a blocked shot. He also capped the Explorers' decisive 10-0 scoring burst with a three-point play.

The Explorers, who put four players in double figures in scoring, also got 19 points off the bench from Gary Neal, 13 points from David Bell and 10 points and six assists from Mike Cleaves.

La Salle shot 66.7 percent (18-27) during the first half to JMU's 39.4 percent (13-33) during the opening period. La Salle shot 52.2 percent (12-23) during the final half and JMU 51.7 percent (15-29).