Dukes Drop Heartbreaker to Charleston in CAA Opener

Thursday, December 31

Harrisonburg, Va.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

10-4

College of Charleston

9-3

C. of Charleston

James Madison

12/31/2015 4:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Marquise Pointer's floater in the lane with 28 seconds left proved decisive on Thursday afternoon as College of Charleston handed James Madison a 65-62 loss in both teams' Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball opener at the JMU Convocation Center.

Senior guard Ron Curry led the way for JMU, which dropped to 10-4 (0-1 CAA) with the loss, racking up 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-7 from the three-point line, to mark his fourth 20-point performance in the last six contests. Charleston moved to 9-3 (1-0 CAA) with the win.

While the Dukes held Canyon Barry, the league's leading scorer and reigning Player of the Week, scoreless until a pair of free throws in the final minute, freshman Jarrell Brantley hit 13-of-14 field goals to score a career-high 29 points for the Cougars.

After a sloppy first period, the Dukes climbed out of a 10-point second-half deficit, using a 17-5 run through the middle of the period to take a 49-47 lead on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Joey McLean with 9:29 to play.

From there, the two teams would rack up five ties and seven lead changes through the final nine minutes. After Curry hit a deep three-pointer to give JMU a 61-60 lead with 2:51 left, Brantley drew a foul and made one of his two free throws to tie things at 61-61 with 1:31 on the clock.

Following a missed three-pointer from the corner, Pointer drove the lane from the wing and lofted a high, arcing floater from 10 feet that rattled home and gave Charleston its final lead. After Curry was fouled on the Dukes' next trip and made just one of his two shots, Barry hit a pair of free throws with three seconds on the clock and the Dukes' long three-point attempt rattled off the iron to seal the loss.

Junior forward Dimitrije Cabarkapa continued his hot streak for the Dukes, notching his third straight double-digit performance with a 16-point evening on 6-of-9 shooting. The Novi Sad, Serbia, native also hit a three-pointer in the second half, giving him 22 consecutive games with at least one basket from behind the arc.

QUOTING COACH BRADY - COMPLETE BRADY POSTGAME - COMPLETE PLAYERS POSTGAME
"I thought, in both halves, that College of Charleston was just a little better than we were. I felt good about where we were in the second half after we got the lead back at one juncture and, as I said to my team, this game was similar to the East Carolina game where it was going to come down to one or two possessions."

AROUND THE CAA
Charleston, UNCW, Towson, Hofstra and Northeastern all picked up wins on the opening afternoon of CAA play, with Charleston, Towson and Northeastern earning victories on the road. All 10 teams are back in action on Saturday.

UP NEXT
The Dukes hit the road immediately, traveling to Newark, Del., for a 12 p.m. contest against the Blue Hens on Saturday, Jan. 2. Delaware opened its CAA slate with a 90-80 loss at Hofstra on Thursday afternoon to fall to 5-7 (0-1 CAA).