Second-Half Surge Sinks Dukes in 79-73 Loss

Thursday, January 7

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

11-5, 1-2CAA

Elon

11-5, 2-1CAA

Elon

James Madison

1/7/2016 10:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - James Madison was unable to bounce back from an early second-half run on Thursday evening, as the Dukes dropped a 79-73 decision to Elon in Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball action at the JMU Convocation Center.

The Dukes, who fell to 11-5 (1-2 CAA) with the loss, shot 38.0% (30-for-79) for the contest, including a 41.5% (17-for-41) mark after halftime. JMU could not run down the Phoenix, who shot 45.5% in the second half to improve to 11-5 (2-1 CAA) on the year.

Senior guard Ron Curry continued his run of strong play, filling the stat sheet with a game-high 23 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals over 36 minutes of court time. Curry, who committed just one turnover on the evening, now has eight straight double-digit performances and has scored 20 or more points in five of those games.

Despite not making a three-pointer for the first time in 23 contests, junior forward Dimitrije Cabarkapa joined Curry in double-digits for the fourth time in five games, racking up 18 points to go with five boards, while junior guard Devontae Morgan notched his first career double-digit performance with 11 points in just nine minutes.

After Elon took a one-point lead into the break, the Phoenix quickly extended their advantage to five before using a 9-0 run across 2:05 to take a 50-36 lead and put JMU in a hole it couldn't dig out of.

The Dukes had their best run in later stages of the second half, as a full-court press from Morgan and Curry forced Elon into three consecutive turnovers that JMU turned into a trio of layups for Morgan.

The run, which saw Morgan pick up a steal and Curry grab both of his, cut the Elon lead to 62-54, but Luke Eddy drilled a three-pointer from the left wing with a hand in his face to silence the rally. JMU would pull back within six with less than a minute to go, but could not complete the comeback.

Freshman Steven Santa Ana led the way for the Phoenix, pacing four players in double-figures by recording his first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

QUOTING COACH BRADY
"We've got to do a better job of blocking out the long shot. I thought we had learned our lesson; I thought we were in a good frame of mind coming into tonight, but give Elon a lot of credit, I thought they played really well."

CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS
Senior guard Ron Curry scored 23 points on Thursday evening, giving him 1,267 for his career. That total moves him ahead of Dan Ruland (1,255; 1979-83) and into 17th place all-time at JMU. Curry is now just nine behind Eugene Atkinson (1,276; 1995-99) and 15 behind Steve Hood (1,282; 1989-91) in 16th and 15th, respectively.

AROUND THE CAA
After Thursday night's action, Northeastern is the only conference team with an unblemished record in league play, as the Huskies moved to 11-5 (3-0 CAA) with an 88-56 win over Delaware in Boston. Charleston, William & Mary and Towson also picked up wins on Thursday evening.

UP NEXT
The Dukes are back at the Convocation Center on Saturday, Jan. 9, when they welcome Towson to Harrisonburg for a 4 p.m. matchup. The Tigers moved to 11-5 (2-1 CAA) with a 76-60 win over UNCW on Thursday night in Towson, Md.