DUKES FALL 77-73 AT LONGWOOD IN MEN'S BASKETBALL

Saturday, February 18

Farmville, Va.

TBA

James Madison University

5-20

Longwood

8-19

James Madison

Longwood

2/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va., Feb. 18, 2006 – Sophomore guard Brandon Giles hit on four consecutive free throws during the final 8.4 seconds, allowing Longwood to hold on for a 77-73 non-conference men's basketball victory over James Madison Saturday.

JMU rallied from a 73-67 deficit to within 73-71 during the final 1:27 and had the ball before committing a turnover with 10 seconds remaining. Giles, who finished with 21 points, then hit on two free throws at the 8.4-second mark and two more with 2.6 seconds left after JMU senior guard Daniel Freeman (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) scored on a driving layup with 3.8 seconds to play.

JMU overcame a 61-53 deficit to lead 67-65 on a dunk by freshman forward Juwann James (Jacksonville, Fla./Raines) with 3:50 left but didn't score again until Freeman hit on one of two free throws to get the Dukes to within 73-68 at the 1:27 mark.

Junior forward Clayton Morgan put Longwood in front to stay, 69-67, with a three-pointer with 3:01 left and hit on two free throws at 2:42 for a 71-67 Lancer lead. Giles then added free throws at the 1:39 and 1:35 marks for Longwood's 73-67 advantage.

Longwood improved to 8-19 with the victory, and JMU fell to 5-20. JMU had beaten the Lancers 72-70 a year ago in Harrisonburg in the teams' only previous meeting.

Longwood jumped to a 15-3 just less than five minutes into the game, but JMU rallied to lead 39-38 at halftime despite Lancer junior swingman Maurice Sumter scoring 20 points during the opening period. JMU got 10 first-half points from James and 10 off the bench from junior guard Ray Barbosa (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) and hit on seven of 15 three-point shots during the first half.

Neither team led by more than two points during the second half until Giles hit on a three-pointer for a 55-51 Longwood lead with 10:09 left. Sophomore forward Lamar Barrett then scored his team's next six points as the Lancers raised their margin to 61-53 with 7:59 remaining.

Freeman had six points and James and senior forward David Cooper (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Central) four each during a 14-4 scoring run that put JMU up 67-65.

Longwood shot 52 percent (25-48) overall from the field and hit on six of 11 three-point tries and on 21 of 26 free throws (81 percent). JMU shot 45 percent (26-58) overall, 35 percent (8-23) from three-point range and 59 percent (13-22) from the foul line. The Dukes hit on only one of eight three-point attempts during the final half.

Sumter scored a game-high 27 points for Longwood, and Giles' 21 points were a career high. Sumter hit on 11 of 16 shots, and Giles was a perfect five of five (all three-point attempts) from the field.

JMU put five players in double figures in scoring, led by Freeman's 16 points. James added 15 points and seven rebounds, freshman forward Kyle Swanston (Spring Hill, Fla./Hernando) and Barbosa 12 points each, and Cooper 11 points. All of Swanston's points came on three-pointers.

Barbosa's 12 points left him with 998 during his JMU career.

The Dukes return to acti