Dukes Fall in CAA Quarterfinal Heartbreaker

Saturday, March 4

North Charleston Coliseum | North Charleston, S.C.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

10-23

College of Charleston

24-8

James Madison

Col. of Charleston

3/4/2017 9:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - James Madison erased a 10-point lead for the second time in as many nights on Saturday, but College of Charleston used a pair of late buckets and a 20-of-25 performance from the free throw line to hold off the Dukes and hand them a heartbreaking 67-62 loss in the Colonial Athletic Association quarterfinals at North Charleston Coliseum on Saturday night.

The seventh-seeded Dukes closed their 2016-17 campaign at 10-23, while second-seeded College of Charleston (24-8) advances to Sunday's semifinals to face the winner of Saturday night's matchup between No. 6 Northeastern and No. 3 Towson.

Senior guard Shakir Brown led all scorers in his final game at JMU, racking up 22 points on the evening, including 14 in the second half. Senior forward Tom Vodanovich also came up big in his final collegiate contest, going 6-of-9 from the field on his way to 13 points, the 18th double-digit effort of his career.

The Dukes played stellar defense early in the contest, holding Charleston to 29.7-percent (8-of-27) shooting in the first half, but turned the ball over five times in the first 12:35 as the Cougars gradually pushed their lead to 25-15 with 6:25 to play before halftime.

JMU pushed back late in the half, however, scoring the final five points of the period to cut the lead to 30-27 at the break. The two teams then alternated baskets for the first five minutes of the second half as Charleston's lead bounced between one and three.

The Cougars eventually pushed their lead back to as many as six, but the Dukes battled back again, eventually tying things up at 56-56 on a layup from senior forward Paulius Satkus with 4:05 to play. Charleston went ahead on a three-pointer with 2:32 left, but junior guard Joey McLean responded on the very next possession with a deep three of his own to make it 59-59.

That would be the Dukes' final field goal, however, as Charleston used a tough jumper and a breakaway layup to take a four-point lead with 35 seconds left. After Brown hit three foul shots with eight seconds left to cut the lead to 63-62, the Cougars hit all four of their foul shots in the final eight seconds to put the game out of reach.

Charleston forward Jarrell Brantley posted a double-double for the Cougars, pulling down 10 boards to go with 16 points, including 10 in the second half. Guard Joe Chealey led Charleston's scorers with 21 points, 11 of which came at the free throw line.

QUOTING COACH ROWE
"I feel like the identity I want us to have is tough defense and fighting hard and not quitting. I know we lost tonight, but I'm so thankful for the way these seniors instilled that. They battled all year and I'm so proud of them."

Louis Rowe Quote

SENIOR SEPTET
Saturday's contest marked the end of seven JMU seniors' careers: Shakir Brown, Dimitrije Cabarkapa, Yohanny Dalembert, Jackson Kent, Ivan Lukic, Paulius Satkus and Tom Vodanovich. This group of departing seniors led the Dukes to 61 wins across their four seasons in Harrisonburg.

On Saturday evening, in their final collegiate game, the Dukes' seniors accounted for 50 of their 62 points.

SATKUS' STREAK
Senior forward Paulius Satkus capped his career riding a streak of 34 made free throws across his final 12 games at JMU. That streak falls just one free throw short of the JMU record for consecutive made free throws, set by Kent Culuko across eight games of the 1993-94 season.

KENT CAPS STELLAR CAREER
Senior guard Jackson Kent will close his career among JMU's all-time leaders in multiple categories. Saturday evening marked his 129th career game for the Dukes, giving him sole possession of second on the program's all-time games played list. Kent finishes one game ahead of Ron Curry, who is third with 128, and just three behind Andrey Semenov, who played in 132 games from 2008-14.

With seven points on Saturday, Kent also finishes his career with 1,228 points, good for 20th out of the program's 30 1,000-point scorers.