DUKES BEAT VMI FOR MEN'S BASKETBALL WIN, 74-61

Saturday, November 26

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James Madison University

1-1

VMI

0-3

Va. Military Institute

James Madison

11/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., Nov. 26, 2005 – James Madison led from wire to wire to earn its first win of the season with a 74-61 triumph of Virginia Military in men's college basketball at the JMU Convocation Center Saturday night.

Junior guard Ray Barbosa (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) led the Dukes, 1-1, with 12 points while junior forward Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington, Md./Notre Dame Academy) chipped in 11 points and snared a game-high 11 rebounds. It was the fourth double-double of Johnson's JMU career.

Senior point guard Jomo Belfor (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) added 11 points to the winning effort and contributed seven assists and six steals.

Sophomore forward Reggie Williams (Prince George, Va.) paced VMI, 0-3, and led all scorers with 18 points. He was 4-for-11 from the field, but canned nine of 12 free throws. Junior forward Matt Murrer (Richmond, Va.) scored 13 points and pulled in a team-high seven rebounds.

The Dukes scored the first 10 points of the game and led 18-4 when freshman forward Juwan James (Jacksonville, Fla./Raines) hit two of his nine points with 11:21 to play in the first half.

VMI charged back with 10-3 run to close to within 21-14, capped by consecutive Murrer layups, the later coming with 7:04 showing. However, the Dukes twice pushed their lead back out to as many 13, on a Johnson jumper and Belfor layup. Williams hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to get the Keydets to within 33-23 at intermission.

The Keydets sliced the lead in half just three minutes into the second period. Senior center Tadas Mankevicius (Kaunas, Lithuania) needed only eight seconds to score with a layup and his two free throws with 17:00 to play brought the visitors to within 35-30. That proved to be the narrowest margin for the remainder of the evening.

JMU gradually rebuilt a double-digit lead and then took control when Barbosa hit back-to-back three-pointers, at 9:25 and 9:06, for a 57-40 bulge and the largest lead of the night. VMI cut the difference to 10, 62-52, with 4:52 to go, but would get no closer.

JMU has now won the last seven meetings in this series which dates back to 1973. The Dukes have posted wins in all 10 games played in Harrisonburg, including eight at the Convocation Center. VMI was the first opponent to play the Dukes in the Convocation Center on Nov. 28, 1982, a 58-43 JMU win.

The Dukes return to action at home on Mon