SECOND-HALF RUN PUSHES JMU PAST KENT STATE 60-51

Friday, December 31

Kent, Ohio

2:00 p.m.

James Madison University

10-3

Kent State

9-5

James Madison

Kent State

12/31/2010 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

KENT, Ohio, Dec. 31, 2010 - James Madison used a key 16-2 second-half run and ended Kent State's 15-game home winning streak with a 60-51 victory on Friday afternoon at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center in a non-conference men's basketball game.

JMU won its fourth in a row to improve to 10-3 for the season. KSU fell to 9-5 for the season with the loss. The 15-game win streak in the MAC Center, which started Jan. 20, was the 10th-longest in the nation entering the day.

Junior forward Rayshawn Goins (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville), playing an hour from home, led three Dukes in double figures with his fourth double-double of the season on 14 points and 13 rebounds. A trio of Ohio natives also had significant contributions as Humpty Hitchens (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe) and Julius Wells (Toledo, Ohio/Libbey) added 11 and 10 points, respectively while sophomore guard Devon Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) had a career-high eight assists.

Rodriguez Sherman led KSU with 17 points, five boards, and five assists. Justin Greene had a double-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks, and three steals.

Trailing 32-31 early in the second half (17:21), JMU used a key 8-0 run, capped by the first of three three-pointers from Hitchens, to take a 39-32 lead. After a layup by the Golden Flashes, JMU used a second 8-0 run to go up 47-34 with 12:05 remaining.

Kent State pulled as close as eight points on three occasions but JMU was able to maintain control and go on for the 60-51 victory.

Both teams struggled at times shooting as the Dukes shot 37% from the floor and the arc while hitting 16-of-26 free throws (61.5%). KSU shot 30% from the field and just 19% on threes (4-for-21). It was the fifth straight game for JMU holding opponents under 40% shooting.

It was a back-and-forth first half with four ties and seven lead changes. JMU pulled out to its largest lead at 23-18 with 4:29 to go only to see KSU reel off a 7-0 run to reclaim the advantage. The Flashes took a one-point lead into the break at 28-27.

Wells led the Dukes with eight points in the first half while Goins and sophomore forward Andrey Semenov (St. Petersburg, Russia/Blue Ridge School) had six apiece with Goins adding eight boards. Greene and Sherman had eight each for KSU while Porrini had seven.

After going 10-2 in non-conference play, JMU will resume Colonial Athletic Association action in earnest on Monday with a 7 p.m. home game against Northeastern. The Dukes will put their 5-0 record in the Convo on the line against the 4-8 Huskies, whose only true road win came in overtime in the second game of the season at Southern Illinois.

NOTES: At 10-3, JMU has matched its best 13-game record in program history, which was achieved on four other occasions, most recently in 1986-87... winning in the MAC Center has been a rare feat for opponents. In addition to the 15-game winning streak, KSU was 152-23 at home over the last 12 seasons, including 49-5 the last four seasons... with his 10 points, Wells moved into 19th in career points at JMU with 1,074, passing Charles Lott (1993-97)... senior forward Denzel Bowles (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville) was held below 10 points for just the second time in 37 career games at JMU... after no points on just one attempt in the first half, Bowles finished with nine points, all in the first eight minutes of the second period.