JMU PULLS OUT 76-71 HOME WIN OVER VCU

Saturday, February 13

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6:00 p.m.

James Madison University

11-15, 4-11

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James Madison

2/14/2010 2:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., Feb. 13, 2010 ? Sophomore forward Julius Wells' (Toledo, Ohio/Libbey) three-pointer broke a tie and senior guard Pierre Curtis (Denver, Colo./East) sank four free throws in the final 17 seconds as James Madison took down VCU 76-71 in a Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball game Saturday evening at the Convocation Center.

JMU snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 11-15 overall and 4-11 in the CAA. VCU fell to 17-7 overall and 9-6 in the league. It was VCU's second straight loss, both after leading by at least eight points at the half.

The game was a 66-66 tie following a Larry Sanders dunk and free throw by VCU with 2:04 to go. JMU responded quickly with a three by freshman guard Darren White (Danville, Va./Dan River) from the top of the arc to move ahead 69-66 with 1:49 left, but VCU's Joey Rodriguez answered with the tie with 1:17 to go.

On the next JMU possession, Wells found himself open at the top of the circle and drained his third three of the night to put JMU in front for good.

VCU's Ed Nixon missed a three from the right side on the next Rams' possession and Curtis corralled the rebound with 16.5 seconds to go. He sank both free throws on the one-and-one opportunity for a 74-69 Dukes' lead.

Freshman forward Trevon Flores (Harvey, La./Helen Cox) was whistled for a foul on VCU's possession and Bradford Burgess hit both to cut the advantage to three with 10.2 seconds left.

Curtis was fouled on the inbounds and again hit a pair at the charity stripe for a 76-71 JMU lead. On the final VCU possession, Rodriguez was trapped on the right side and Curtis stepped in to intercept the pass and seal the JMU victory.

The JMU win came despite losing leading scorer, junior forward Denzel Bowles (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville), who fouled out with 7:56 to go with a game-high 21 points. He was whistled for a pair of fouls in a 34-second span with 13