JMU Closes Road Trip With 86-82 Overtime Win at Hofstra

Saturday, January 16

Hempstead, N.Y.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

14-5 (4-2CAA)

Hofstra

12-6 (4-2CAA)

OT 1

James Madison

Hofstra

1/16/2016 8:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – James Madison climbed out of a six-point hole in the final five minutes of regulation and went on to earn an 86-82 overtime victory at preseason Colonial Athletic Association favorite Hofstra in men's basketball action at the Mack Sports Complex on Saturday evening.

The Dukes, who held the high-powered Hofstra offense to just 36% (27-for-75) shooting from the field and 22.9% (8-for-35) shooting from three, improved to 14-5 (4-2 CAA) with their third straight win. JMU moved into a six-way tie for first place in the league and is 6-0 in road games for the first time in program history.

The Pride fell to 12-6 (4-2 CAA) in the loss.

Junior guard Shakir Brown and junior forward Yohanny Dalembert both posted double-doubles, marking the second time this season that both players have pulled off the feat in the same game.

Brown racked up a career-high six three-pointers en route to a team-high 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Dalembert scored 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting, while pulling down a career-high 16 boards. Both players also picked up double-doubles in the Dukes' win at Marshall on Nov. 24.

The contest, which pitted the top two teams in the CAA preseason poll, was back-and-forth throughout, as the lead was traded 14 times and tied on 11 occasions. Although the Dukes roared out to a 28-17 lead at the 7:43 mark in the first half, Hofstra steadily chipped away, tying things at 36-36 at the 1:21 mark.

The Pride opened its biggest lead of the game with just 4:50 to play in the game, going up 65-69 on four straight free throws. The Dukes quickly came back with an 11-3 run, including seven points from Brown, to go up 70-68. Neither team led by more than three the rest of the way and a tip-in from Hofstra forward Denton Koon with 7.4 seconds left sent the game to overtime at 75-75.

In the extra period, neither team led by more than a bucket until a 7-0 run from the Dukes across 2:37 gave them an 84-79 lead with 11 seconds left. After a deep Hofstra three-pointer, senior guard Winston Grays III sank a pair of last-second free throws to put the contest away.

Senior guard Ron Curry posted his 11th straight double-digit performance, tallying 14 points, eight assists, two rebounds, a block and a steal while turning the ball over just twice in 41 minutes of floor time. Junior guard Jackson Kent joined the trio in doubile-figures with 12 points and five boards.

Rokas Gustys led the way for Hofstra, controlling the inside on his way to 25 points and 20 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. Senior guard Juan'ya Green, the CAA Preseason Player of the Year, tallied 17 points and nine assists across 44 minutes.

QUOTING COACH BRADY
"This is a very explosive offensive team. Juan'ya Green is a potential Player of the Year candidate, so you kind of have to pick where you're going to lean, defensively. We did really well on that end and got big nights from Yohanny and Shakir."

HISTORIC DEFENSE
The Dukes sterling defensive effort on Saturday evening marked the latest in a string of shutdown performances by JMU. Opponents have now shot just 39.9% from the floor against the Dukes, including a miniscule 29.1% from the three-point line, a mark that ranks 13th in the country after Saturday's action.

Both numbers are currently the lowest in program history. The current program record for field goal percentage defense is a 40.5% mark during the 1994-95 campaign, while the Dukes' previous best three-point defense mark, and only year in history below 31%, is a 30.6% mark in the 2008-09 season, the first year of Head Coach Matt Brady's tenure at JMU.

HOLDING A LEAD
Saturday's victory meant that the Dukes improved to 12-0 this season, including a 4-0 mark in CAA play, when they enter halftime with a lead. JMU is just 2-5 when they enter the break trailing and have not gone into halftime tied yet this season.

TWEET OF THE GAME

2 big games on the road, 2 BIG Wins back at the convo on Thursday for more. Thanks for the support at both games JMU Nation #RoadWarriors
— Winston Grays (@W_Grays23) January 17, 2016

AROUND THE CAA
Road teams went 3-2 on Saturday evening, as JMU, Elon and Northeastern all brought home wins. After William & Mary's loss at UNCW and Towson's win over Drexel, six teams are tied atop the CAA standings, as JMU, UNCW, William & Mary, Towson, Hofstra and Northeastern are all level in first.

UP NEXT
The Dukes return to the Convocation Center next week for a 7 p.m. bout against Drexel on Thursday, Jan. 21. The Dragons are 3-14 and fell to 1-5 in league play after dropping contests at Hofstra (69-61) and Towson (69-50) this week.