Dukes Felled by Hot-Shooting Northeastern

Sunday, January 7

Boston, Mass.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

4-13, 0-4CAA

Northeastern

10-6, 3-1CAA

James Madison

Northeastern

1/7/2018 7:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - Freshman guard Darius Banks led four James Madison scorers in double digits with 16 points on Sunday evening, but the Dukes couldn't keep pace with a hot-shooting Northeastern team as the Huskies handed JMU an 80-67 Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball loss at historic Matthews Arena.

The Dukes (4-13, 0-4 CAA) hit 40 percent of their shots (22-of-55) and three-pointers (6-of-15), but weren't able to slow down a Northeastern (10-6, 3-1 CAA) offense that shot 54.7 percent (29-of-53) from the field, 46.7 percent (14-of-30) from three and notched assists on 24 of its 29 field goals.

Banks finished one point shy of his career-best scoring performance on 5-of-8 shooting and a 5-of-6 night at the free throw line, adding three rebounds and three steals to his evening. Freshman Matt Lewis racked up 14 points, six boards, two assists and two steals in his first career start, while juniors Stuckey Mosley and Develle Phillips each added 11 points.

JMU never trailed by more than eight in the opening half, cutting the lead to three before heading into the break facing a 36-31 deficit. After halftime, however, the Huskies hit five of their first six threes as they erupted on a 23-7 run that put the Dukes in a 59-38 hole from which they could not escape.

The Dukes responded quickly, cutting the lead to 62-51 at the 9:12 mark with a 13-3 run of their own, but Northeastern would hold JMU to just six field goals the rest of the way as the Huskies closed out the win.

QUOTING COACH ROWE
"That's a really tough team we just lost to and we just made a few too many mistakes at crucial points in the game to let them pull away. We know we have another tough one in front of us when we head to Williamsburg."

QUICK HITS
- Freshman guard Matt Lewis made his first career start in Sunday's contest, spelling senior Joey McLean, who sat out the game with an ankle injury.
- Junior Stuckey Mosley scored 11 points while battling foul trouble, marking his 10th straight double-digit performance and his 16th in 17 games.

UP NEXT
The Dukes have one more contest on their current three-game road trip, as they travel to Williamsburg, Va. to take on in-state rival William & Mary at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 11, in a rematch of last week's game. On Sunday evening, the Tribe improved to 4-0 in CAA play with an 85-63 win over Drexel in Philadelphia.