Mosley, Dukes Pull Away from FIU Late

Saturday, December 16

Miami Shores, Fla.

7:30 p.m.

James Madison University

4-8

FIU

5-6

JMU

FIU

12/17/2017 12:26:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score @JMUMBasketball 2017-18 MBB Schedule 2017-18 Statistics Box Score

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. - Junior guard Stuckey Mosley scored 23 of his 28 points in the second half and James Madison pulled away late to pick up a 76-67 road win over FIU at the Barry University Health & Sports Center on Saturday night.

The Dukes (4-8) were strong on offense, shooting 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the field and hitting eight of their 16 three-pointers, and disruptive on defense, forcing the Panthers (5-6) into 18 turnovers with the help of 10 steals.

Mosley erupted in the second half for the second game in a row, going 5-of-8 from the field after halftime, including a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the arc and 10-of-10 from the free throw line. The junior from Orlando, Fla. also scored 25 points in the second half against Richmond last Sunday.

Freshman guard Darius Banks continued his stellar stretch in front of a large contingent of supporters, as the St. Petersburg, Fla. native posted a brutally efficient 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while senior Ramone Snowden stuffed the stat sheet again, notching five points, six boards, a career-high seven assists and a pair of steals.

JMU led for much of the contest and second half, with FIU trimming the Dukes' advantage to 62-61 with just 2:36 to play. After a pair of traded turnovers, however, Mosley came off a screen to drill a deep three-pointer that put JMU back up 65-61 at the 1:33 mark.

The Panthers would cut the lead back to two, but would get no closer, as JMU hit nine of its 10 free throws in the final 45 seconds to seal the victory. In all, the Dukes went 17-of-18 (94.4 percent) from the stripe in the second half.

QUOTING COACH ROWE
"I'm proud of the guys for tonight's win. There were stretches when we struggled, but they battled through those and came up with a good win on the road tonight. We still played a little out of control sometimes and we need to value the ball more, but this is a good step forward for us on both sides of the ball."

QUICK HITS
- The Dukes racked up 10 steals on Saturday night, marking the fourth time this season that JMU has tallied double-digit steals and raising its per-game average to 8.08.
- Freshman forward Zach Jacobs made his first collegiate start in the victory, notching five points, five boards and an assist across nine minutes.
- Junior forward Develle Phillips matched his career high with four blocks on the evening.
- JMU went 22-of-27 (81.5 percent) at the charity stripe on Saturday and has hit 77.1 percent (74-of-96) of its free throws across the last five games.
- Saturday's win marked the Dukes' seventh straight game decided by fewer than 10 points.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will close out their non-conference slate with the last of four straight road games on Wednesday, Dec. 20, when they travel to Gainesville, Fla. to take on #22 Florida. On Saturday evening, the Gators dropped a 71-69 decision to Clemson at the Orange Bowl Classic to fall to 6-4 on the year.