Dukes Fall in 62-55 Battle at Old Dominion

Friday, November 11

Norfolk, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

0-1

Old Dominion

1-0

Team	1	2	F
JMU	31	24	55
ODU	30	32	62

11/11/2016 10:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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NORFOLK, Va. - Nine different players scored for James Madison on Friday night, but the Dukes dropped a physical 62-55 contest to Old Dominion in both teams' season openers at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.

The Dukes (0-1), playing their first game under new head coach Louis Rowe, picked up where they left off on the defensive end, holding ODU (1-0) to 36.8-percent (21-57) shooting from the field and 26.7-percent (4-15) from behind the three-point line.

Senior guard Shakir Brown, a preseason Second Team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection, led the Dukes on the offensive end, racking up 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting, while junior guard Joey McLean added 10 points of his own on 4-of-6 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers. Senior guard Jackson Kent put in a solid evening, scoring six points while pulling down a team-high nine rebounds

Junior forward Brandan Stith powered the Monarchs to the win, posting a double-double with 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting to go with 11 rebounds, while senior guard Jordan Baker went 4-of-7 from beyond the arc on his way to 21 points.

The contest was back and forth throughout the first half, with neither team leading by more than four until a pair of ODU free throws put the Monarchs up, 39-33, at the 15:24 mark in the second half. ODU would eventually stretch the lead to eight, but a three-pointer from McLean with 6:47 to play trimmed the Monarchs' advantage to 47-44.

The Dukes would get no closer, as a quick 6-0 ODU run pushed the lead back to nine at the 3:39 mark and the Monarchs hit seven free throws across the final 2:31 to keep JMU at bay across the final seconds.

QUOTING COACH ROWE
"I think the second half was very much their style. There were a lot of free throws and points in the paint and we need to play a little more of our style against good teams like ODU. We'll learn from this game and turn around for our home opener on Sunday."

BIG WIN ON THE BOARDS
JMU won the rebounding battle on the evening, edging the Monarchs by a 40-39 margin, despite a stout ODU frontcourt that averaged a +6.4 rebounding margin last season. Every JMU player that saw the floor on Friday night pulled down at least one rebound.

TWEET OF THE NIGHT

Brief interruption on the radio for a great moment: Coach Lefty Driesell in the house for his former player's first game on the whistle! pic.twitter.com/xU5HrpE35O
— JMU Men's Basketball (@JMUMBasketball) November 12, 2016

UP NEXT
The Dukes have their home opener on Sunday, Nov. 13, when they welcome Rice to Harrisonburg for a 2 p.m. contest. Rice will be opening their season at JMU after a 12-20 (7-11 C-USA) campaign in 2015-16.