Men's Hoops Falters Against Norfolk State

Friday, November 27

Harrisonburg, Va.

12 p.m.

James Madison University

1-1,0-0CAA

Norfolk State

1-0,0-0MEAC

Norfolk St.

James Madison

11/27/2020 3:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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HARRISONBURG, Va. - Norfolk State used a 10-2 run out of the final media timeout on Friday afternoon to break a tie and pull away late as James Madison dropped an 83-73 decision to the Spartans in non-conference men's basketball action at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

The Dukes (1-1) had leveled things at 67-67 with 3:44 to play, but a pair of quick 5-0 runs for NSU (1-0) put JMU in a hole it couldn't dig out of. The Spartans hit 10 of their 12 free throws in the 2:32 to seal the loss.

Senior guard Matt Lewis led all scorers in the loss, racking up 27 points on 4-of-9 shooting from deep and a 13-of-14 performance at the line to pace the Dukes. Junior guard Vado Morse added 16 points, while sophomore Julien Wooden and freshman Justin Amadi each added 10.

All told, the Dukes shot 36.2% (21-of-58) from the field, while NSU blazed a 49% clip on 24-of-49 shooting on the afternoon.

QUOTING COACH BYINGTON
"I think a couple things didn't go our way today and we just got a little down and couldn't overcome them. We had some good things and we're going to keep learning and keep getting better. We just need to get a little more competitive and finish the deal - the game was right there and we just had some things go against us. [Norfolk State] played really well - I thought we got their best shot."

QUICK HITS
- The Dukes limited Norfolk State's height advantage, holding the Spartans to just two second-chance points on the day.
- Senior Matt Lewis made 13 free throws on the day, vaulting into second all-time at JMU with 426 career free throws made, passing Pierre Curtis (2006-10, 421) and moving 94 free throws behind record-holder Steve Stielper (1976-80, 520).

UP NEXT
The Dukes will close out their opening weekend of play on Sunday evening, as Radford travels to Harrisonburg to face JMU at 7 p.m. The Highlanders opened their season with a 77-62 loss at Virginia Tech on Wednesday and will face Norfolk State on Saturday at 7 p.m.