Dukes Fall in Defensive Battle at Charleston

Saturday, January 27

Charleston, S.C.

3 p.m.

James Madison University

6-17, 2-8CAA

College of Charleston

16-6, 7-3CAA

James Madison

Col. of Charleston

1/27/2018 6:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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CHARLESTON, S.C. - James Madison trimmed an eight-point lead to three in the final five minutes on Saturday evening, but College of Charleston held off the Dukes as the Cougars handed JMU a 66-59 loss in Colonial Athletic Association action at TD Arena.

The Dukes (6-17, 2-8 CAA) used their defense to work back into the game, holding Charleston (16-6, 7-3 CAA) to just four made field goals across the final 13 minutes of action, but shot just 37 percent (10-of-27) in the second half.

Junior Stuckey Mosley led the Dukes with 17 points, including a trio of threes, while freshman Matt Lewis and junior Develle Phillips each added 13. Lewis racked up six rebounds, one shy of his career high, while Phillips tallied nine to help the Dukes outrebound Charleston, 40-32.

The contest was tightly-contested throughout, with JMU's 11-point lead at the 12:24 mark in the first half marking the steepest advantage of the game. After the two teams went into halftime tied at 30-30, the Cougars slowly pushed their lead to six at the 9:49 mark and as many as eight, going up 59-51 with 4:56 to play.

JMU immediately scored five straight points to cut the gap to three, but Charleston responded with a three-pointer from well outside the arc to end the Dukes' run as the Cougars held JMU without a field goal from the 4:32 mark until Mosley's driving layup with four seconds to play.

Junior Jarrell Brantley racked up 21 points and eight boards to lead Charleston, while CAA Preseason Player of the Year Joe Chealy tallied 19 points with the help of a 10-of-10 performance from the foul line.

QUOTING COACH ROWE
"It feels familiar, but this was another veteran, talented team today and they just made one or two more plays than we did down the stretch. I'm always happy with our fight and today was no different, but we just need to execute one or two more times.

QUICK HITS
- After Saturday's loss, seven of the Dukes' nine CAA contests have been decided by single-digit points or in overtime.
- Junior Stuckey Mosley led JMU in scoring for the 16th time in 23 games this season, while junior Develle Phillips paced the Dukes in rebounds for the 14th time.
- With Mosley and freshman Matt Lewis scoring in double figures, the duo have now tallied 16 and nine consecutive double-digit efforts, respectively.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will close out their three-game road trip on Thursday evening, when they head to Philadelphia to take on Drexel at 7 p.m. on Feb. 1. In their first meeting, JMU held off a charging Drexel to pick up a 75-73 win in Harrisonburg on Jan. 20.