Defense Clamps Down as Dukes Roll Past Mason, 69-46

Saturday, December 12

Harrisonburg, Va.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

8-3

George Mason

4-7

Team	1	2	F
George Mason	18	28	46
James Madison	30	39	69

12/12/2015 7:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - James Madison used its best defensive effort of the season to earn a 69-46 win over George Mason in non-conference men's basketball action in front of 3,856 fans, including 1,347 students, on Saturday evening at the JMU Convocation Center.

The Dukes, who improved to 8-3 on the year, held Mason to 18-for-58 shooting (31.0-percent) from the floor, the lowest of any JMU opponent this year. The Patriots were also the third JMU foe in the last five games to shoot below 36-percent from the field as they fell to 4-7 on the year.

Saturday's victory marked the sixth in a row for JMU, marking the first time since the 2010-11 campaign that the Dukes have won at least six straight games.

The win also snapped the Patriots' nine-game winning streak over JMU and the 25-point margin was the Dukes' largest win over Mason since a 110-81 victory in Fairfax on Feb. 12, 1994.

JMU's defense smothered Mason from the tip, holding the Patriots to just six points through the first 10 minutes and a 26.9-percent (7-for-26) shooting performance before halftime. The 18-point defensive effort marked the first time since a 54-35 win at Drexel on Jan. 15, 2015, in which the Dukes held an opponent below 20 points in the first half.

After JMU took a 30-18 lead into the break, the Dukes immediately put the game out of reach with a 16-6 run across the first 7:17 of the second half that put JMU up, 46-24. Following an immediate Mason three-pointer cut the lead to 19, the Patriots would not get within 20 for the remainder of the contest, as JMU stretched the advantage to as much as 27 on two occasions.

Senior guard Ron Curry led all scorers in the defensive battle with 11 points on 4-for-9 shooting, while tallying four assists. Junior guard Jackson Kent joined Curry in double-digits, his third such effort in four games, grabbing 10 points and three rebounds.

Junior forward Yohanny Dalembert recorded his second double-digit rebounding effort of the year, pulling down 11 boards in a nine-point evening, while junior forward Paulius Satkus scored six points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench.

QUOTING COACH BRADY - COMPLETE BRADY POSTGAME - COMPLETE PLAYERS POSTGAME
"We told our guys [before the game] that we had to play terrific defense. This is a George Mason team that really uses the dribble off the bounce and into the lane, and I thought our defense was really, really solid keeping them out of the lane on dribble penetration."

TWEET OF THE GAME

Congrats to @JMUMBasketball for a huge win against George Mason today!! Great student turn out!! #godukes
— JMU Cheerleading (@JMUCheerleading) December 13, 2015

CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS
Senior guard Ron Curry continued his march up the JMU all-time scoring list on Saturday evening, scoring 11 points to end the day with 1,168 in his four-year career. That total currently ranks 20th on JMU's career scoring list. Next up are Andrey Semenov (2008-14; 1,203) in 19th and Pierre Curtis (2006-10; 1,237) in 18th. Junior guard Jackson Kent, the Duke with the second-highest career scoring total, broke the 600-point barrier with his performance on Saturday and now has 608 career points.

CONTROLLING THE BOARDS
The Dukes rebounded Mason by a 41-39 margin on Saturday evening, marking the fifth time in the last six games that JMU has held the advantage on the boards. Over that time, the Dukes have averaged a +9.7 rebounding margin. JMU is also 7-0 when it wins the rebounding battle.

BIG MAN, BIG SHOTS
Junior forward Dimitrije Cabarkapa scored six points in just 18 minutes on Saturday evening, but reached that mark by making a pair of three-pointers. The performance gave Cabarkapa at least one made shot from behind the arc in 19 consecutive games, dating back to last season. In that stretch, the Novi Sad, Serbia, native has gone 32-for-73 from long range, good for a 43.8-percent clip.

PLAY OF THE GAME - COMPLETE HIGHLIGHTS

Senior guard Winston Grays III finds sophomore guard Joey McLean in the corner and McLean drills a three-pointer to cap a 12-2 JMU run and give the Dukes a 44-22 advantage, their first lead of more than 20 points.

SHOWING OFF THE DEPTH
All 13 eligible players saw court time for the Dukes in Saturday evening's win, with 11 scoring at least one point. JMU spread out its playing time as well, with no Dukes playing for more than 29 minutes and nine different players seeing at least 12 minutes.

SINGLE-DIGITS ALL AROUND
JMU did not allow any Mason player to score in double-digits on Saturday evening, the first time an opposing team went without a 10-point scorer since a contest at UNCW on Jan. 4, 2014. Shevon Thompson, Otis Livingston and Marquise more all scored nine points to lead the Patriots.

PHOTO OF THE GAME- COMPLETE PHOTO GALLERY
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The JMU Alumni Association presents a check for $500,000 to JMU President Jonathan Alger and Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne in support of a new, on-campus Convocation Center and the naming of the Alumni Plaza outside of the new facility. As part of the announcement, the alumni board challenged JMU's 123,000 alumni to make contributions to support the project.

AROUND THE CAA
In addition to the Dukes' win, Northeastern picked up a solid non-conference victory for the Colonial Athletic Association, handing Stony Brook a 75-62 loss in Boston on Saturday evening. UNCW suffered its first loss of the year at Georgetown, putting a scare into the Hoyas, but dropping an 87-82 decision.

UP NEXT
The Dukes, who are off this week due to final exams, will resume their six-game homestand on Sunday, Dec. 20, with a 2 p.m. game against East Carolina. The Pirates are 5-4 on the year thus far, but face North Carolina A&T (Sun., Dec. 13) and fellow CAA member UNCW (Wed., Dec. 16) before making the trip to Harrisonburg.