JMU Comeback Falls Just Short in 78-73 Loss to UNCW

Thursday, January 28

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

16-6, 6-3CAA

UNCW

15-5, 7-2CAA

UNCW

James Madison

1/28/2016 10:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - James Madison trimmed a late 15-point deficit to just three points in the final minutes, but the Dukes' comeback fell just short, as UNCW escaped the JMU Convocation Center with a 78-73 victory in Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball action on Thursday evening.

JMU, which fell to 16-6 (6-3 CAA) in its first loss since Jan. 7, shot just 7-for-24 (29.2%) from the field in the first half and 19-for-52 (36.5%) for the game as the Seahawks outrebounded the Dukes 50-35 and improved to 15-5 (7-2 CAA) to remain in a tie for first in the league.

Senior guard Ron Curry set a new career scoring mark in the loss, racking up 28 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including 3-for-6 from behind the arc and a 13-for-16 performance at the free throw line. The effort marked Curry's 14th straight double-digit effort and his eighth game of at least 20 points this season.

For the second straight game, junior forward Paulius Satkus joined Curry in double figures, tallying 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting, including a three-pointer and a 4-for-4 evening from the charity stripe.

Despite the Dukes' cold shooting in the first half, JMU went into the break trailing by just five at 33-28. However, UNCW quickly used a 9-2 run to lengthen its lead to 42-30. Though JMU shaved the lead back down to five at 50-45 with 8:37, the Seahawks again pulled away, opening the advantage to as much as 15 (63-48) with 4:48 to play.

The Dukes refused to go away, though, immediately scoring eight straight points in just over a minute to cut things to 63-56 with 3:42 on the clock, then pulling within five at 66-61 with 2:12 to play. JMU would come as close as three in the final minute, but the Seahawks went 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the final 54 seconds to close the Dukes out.

Chris Flemmings led the way for UNCW, posting a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Denzel Ingram added 14 points and Jordon Talley chipped in 11. Reigning CAA Freshman of the Week C.J. Bryce racked up nine points and 11 rebounds on the evening.

QUOTING COACH BRADY
"This Wilmington team plays with a lot of speed and quickness both on offense and defense. Give them a lot of credit for playing well, but the two factors that really hurt us tonight were missing nearly 20 free throws and giving up 12 offensive rebounds where we just weren't tough enough."

CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS
Senior guard Ron Curry continued his march up the JMU career lists on Thursday with his career-best scoring performance. His 28 points gave him 1,369 across his four seasons and moved him from 12th to 10th on the all-time scoring list, passing Eric Brent (1983-87; 1,362) and David Fanning (1999-03; 1,365).

Curry now sits just 11 points behind Linton Townes (1978-82; 1,380) in ninth. The Pennsauken, N.J., native also started his 103rd career game, tied for fifth all-time at JMU, and played in his 119th, tied for fourth all-time with Kent Culuko (1991-95).

AROUND THE CAA
Road teams had another stellar night in the league, winning three of the five contests on Thursday evening. William & Mary, Towson and UNCW will all take road wins home, while Hofstra got a late jumper from Juan'ya Green to down Elon, 66-64, and keep pace with UNCW atop the CAA standings.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will hit the road this weekend to face William & Mary, the only CAA opponent that JMU has yet to face, on Sunday, Jan. 31, in a 7 p.m. bout. The contest is scheduled to be televised on Comcast SportsNet.