Game Story; JMU 57, Towson 55

Saturday, January 17

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1/17/2004 1:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. (1/17/2004) – Daniel Freeman had 18 points and six rebounds as the Dukes broke a six-game losing streak with a 57-55 home victory over Towson.

Towson had a chance to force overtime when Lawrence Hamm went to the foul line with 0.3 seconds left. He was fouled while trying to rebound Jamaal Gilchrist's shot that was blocked by JMU's Eddie Greene-Long. Hamm missed on his first shot and was set to intentionally miss the second, but a lane violation thwarted the Tigers' hopes.

Freeman hit on two free throws with 1:48 left to give JMU the lead for good, 56-54.

Gilchrist hit on the second of two free throws with 1:21 left to get Towson to within 56-55. But on the next possession JMU twice got offensive rebounds before John Naparlo hit on one of two free throws with 0:13 left.

The Tigers led most of the way with their biggest edge coming on a 7-0 spurt in 49 seconds for a 9-1 lead with 16:40 left in the first half. JMU first led, 26-25, when Naparlo hit on a three-pointer with 2:31 left in the first half. The lead changed hands twice before JMU led 33-32 at halftime.

Towson scored first during the second half to regain the lead. Freeman answered with a layup, but the Tigers reclaimed the lead and kept it until JMU's David Cooper hit on a layup to tie the score at 49 with 9:16 left. The score remained tied until Freeman hit a three-pointer with 5:50 remaining.

The Dukes took their largest lead, 54-49, when Greene-Long hit on two free throws with 5:22 to play. The Tigers tied the game at 54-54 with 3:15 remaining on 7-foot center Derrick Goode's bucket.

Gilchrist shared game-high scoring honors with Freeman. Andrius Petkunas added 10 points for Towson and was the game's only other player to reach double figures in scoring. Cavell Johnson came off the bench for a career-high nine points for the Dukes.

JMU shot only 38 percent (19-50) but out-rebounded Towson 32-30 and had only 11 turnovers to the Tigers' 15. JMU hit on four of 21 three-point attempts and Towson on five of 13.