DUKES FALL IN MEN'S TOURNAMENT TITLE GAME

Sunday, December 30

Charleston, S.C.

7:30 p.m.

James Madison University

8-3

College of Charleston

6-6

James Madison

Coll of Charleston

12/30/2007 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C., Dec. 30, 2007 ? Reserve guard Tony White scored all of his 12 points as the College of Charleston pulled away during the second half to post a 76-53 victory over James Madison Sunday in the championship game of its Jim & 'Nick's Cougar Classic.

After trailing 29-23 at halftime, JMU got the first field goal of the final half, but the host Cougars opened a double-figure lead by the 13-minute mark of the half and were in control the rest of way.

College of Charleston improved to 6-6 with the victory while JMU fell to 8-3.

White got the Cougars' first six points of the final half on three-pointers and added a pair of two-pointers as the lead reached 42-31 with 13:16 to play and 52-38 with 9:07 left.

White was one of five College of Charleston players to score in double figures, and the Cougars took advantage of 31.0 percent (22-71) shooting by JMU. The Dukes shot only 23.1 percent (9-39) during the first half and hit on only two of 17 three-point field goal attempts for the game.

Junior forward Juwann James (Jacksonville, Fla./Raines) had 10 first-half points for the Dukes and finished with a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes. He hit on seven of 11 shots and also had two steals and an assist and earned all-tournament honors.

Sophomore guard Pierre Curtis (Denver, Colo./East) with 10 points was the Dukes' only other double-figure scorer.

Forward Jermaine Johnson, the tournament most valuable player, had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the College of Charleston.