Strong First Half Carries Dukes to 70-68 Win at Radford

Monday, November 30

Radford, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

5-3

Radford

4-3

James Madison

Radford

11/30/2015 10:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison stormed out to a 38-26 halftime lead and fought off a furious second-half charge from Radford to hold on to a 70-68 win in non-conference men's basketball action at the Dedmon Center on Monday night.

With their third straight win, the Dukes are now 5-3 on the season and 3-0 on the road for the first time since the 1981-82 campaign. Radford fell to 4-3 with Monday's loss.

Madison opened the contest well on both ends of the court, shooting 12-for-27 (44.4%) from the field in the first half while holding the Highlanders to a 30.8% (8-for-26) clip from the floor, including just 28.6% (2-for-7) from long range.

After the Dukes took the 12-point advantage into the break, they opened the second half even hotter, with junior guards Jackson Kent and Shakir Brown hitting three-pointers on the first three possessions to extend the lead to 47-26 at the 17:51 mark.

The 21-point lead would be the Dukes' largest of the game, as Radford chipped away throughout the second half, eventually tying things at 63-63 with 1:13 on the clock. On the next possession, however, sophomore guard Joey McLean drilled a three-pointer from the right corner that put the Dukes ahead to stay.

McLean would also make two big free throws to give JMU a four-point lead with 12 seconds left and Madison weathered a missed three at the buzzer to close out the win.

Brown led the way for the Dukes again, hitting five three-pointers in eight attempts and sinking five of his six free throws to notch 20 points, in addition to a game-high seven rebounds. The performance marked the junior's fourth 20-point game in just eight tries.

McLean's crucial burst late in the contest lifted him to a season-best 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including a trio of three-pointers, while Kent matched his best outing of the year with 11 points.

Rashun Davis led the way for Radford, scoring a game-high 22 points on the evening, including 13 in the second half.

QUOTING COACH BRADY
"We played outstanding basketball in the first half, but we had a number of dumb turnovers in the second half that gave them a lot of life and a lot of energy. That made it a lot closer than it probably should have been, but Radford is very scrappy and very tough. We had just enough to pull a win out."

TWEET OF THE GAME

Big win tonight! Now it's time for you, the STUDENTS, to get hyped at home on December 3, 6, 12 in the new student section! #GoDukes
— Matt Brady (@CoachMattBrady) December 1, 2015

CONTROL THE BOARDS
The Dukes held a 36-31 advantage in the rebounding battle on Monday night, led by Shakir Brown and Paulius Satkus, who had seven and five, respectively. Madison is now 5-0 when it outrebounds the opposing team in 2015-16.

AROUND THE CAA
The Colonial Athletic Association had a perfect 3-0 night on Monday. In addition to the Dukes' win, College of Charleston picked up a 70-58 victory at home against LSU, while Elon scored eight points in the final 14 seconds of regulation to force overtime in an eventual 103-93 victory.

UP NEXT
The Dukes kick off a six-game homestand on Thursday, Dec. 3, when they welcome Western Michigan to the Convocation Center for a 7 p.m. bout. JMU is at home throughout the month of December, staying in Harrisonburg until a Jan. 2 contest at Delaware.