JMU BEATS TOWSON FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT MEN'S BASKETBALL WIN

Wednesday, February 23

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JMU BEATS TOWSON FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT MEN'S BASKETBALL WIN

2/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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HARRISONBURG (2/23/05) – Junior forward David Cooper (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Central) came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points and lead four James Madison players in double figures in scoring as the Dukes beat Towson 68-58 in men's Colonial Athletic Association basketball Wednesday at the JMU Convocation Center.

Cooper, who had missed two and half games with medical concerns, hit on seven of 11 shots from the field and had a team-leading nine rebounds and two steals in 29 minutes. He hadn't played since the first half of last Wednesday's JMU game at William & Mary.

The Dukes also got 17 points from sophomore guard Ray Barbosa (Allentown, Pa./William Allen), a career-high 12 points from sophomore guard Chris Clarke (Chantilly, Va./Chantilly), and 10 points from sophomore forward Cavell Johnson (Middleburg, Va./Notre Dame Academy) as they won for the second time in three nights. Clarke hit on four of five shots from three-point range while erasing his previous career-high scoring mark of seven points.

The victory raised JMU's overall record to 6-20 and its CAA mark to 3-14. Towson fell to 5-21 overall and to 2-14 in the CAA.

JMU, which had led on only three brief occasions previously, broke a 39-39 tie on Clarke's fourth three-pointer with 10:26 remaining and didn't trail again. Towson was still within 48-44 on two Lawrence Hamm free throws with 6:16 to play before a 15-4 scoring burst all but sealed the win for JMU.

Barbosa had a three-pointer and later completed the burst with a fast-break layup for a 63-48 JMU lead with 2:45 to play. Junior guard Jomo Belfor (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon), who had a team-high six assists, and Johnson also had four points during the 15-4 burst.

JMU shot 60 percent (15-25) during the second half after trailing 27-25 at halftime. The Dukes won for the first time in 2004-05 after being behind at the break.

JMU shot 46 percent (23-50) overall and took advantage of 21 Towson turnovers while committing but 13.

Towson shot 42 percent (22-53) and got 22 points and 11 rebounds from Hamm and 11 points from Cantrell Fletcher. Hamm hit on nine of 11 shots, blocked two shots and posted his third scoring-rebounding "double-double" of the season.

JMU closes the regular season in a 7 p.m. home game with Old Dominion Saturday (Feb. 26). Towson hosts William & Mary Saturday before closing the regular season Monday (Feb. 28) at home against Drexel.