Second Half Shooting Trips Dukes at Northeastern

Saturday, January 23

Boston, Mass.

12 p.m.

James Madison University

6-5,1-1CAA

Northeastern

8-5,7-0CAA

James Madison

Northeastern

1/23/2021 5:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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BOSTON, Mass. - James Madison started strong on Saturday afternoon, but cold shooting in the second half saw Northeastern hand the Dukes a 72-63 loss in Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball action at the Cabot Center.

After hitting 13 of 29 shots and four of seven threes in the opening 20 minutes, the Dukes (6-5, 1-1 CAA) would connect on just 12 of their 36 attempts (33.3%) after halftime as league-leading Northeastern (8-5, 7-0 CAA) pulled away and weathered a late JMU flurry to seal the win.

Senior Matt Lewis and junior Jalen Hodge both scored 14 points on the day to lead the Dukes, with Lewis adding six boards and a pair of assists without committing a turnover on the day.

The Dukes came out of the gates well, ripping off 10 straight points and a 12-2 run on their way to a 26-21 advantage at the 8:13 mark, but Northeastern responded with an 11-1 run of its own that would eventually give the Huskies a 37-31 lead at the break.

JMU again responded well, cutting things to 39-36 just 3:06 into the second half, but the Huskies called timeout and scored the next six points to kick start a 13-3 run that would put them ahead for good. The Dukes would score the final 11 points of the game after the lead was out of range.

Shaquille Walters (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Chris Doherty (10 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles on the day for Northeastern, but freshman Jahmyl Telfort provided the difference, scoring all 23 of his game-high 23 points in the second half.

QUOTING COACH BYINGTON
"Obviously, Northeastern is a really good team. I thought for about 23 minutes, we played really well and the way we wanted to, and then they made some really good adjustments and went on a run. We'll have to change some things up tomorrow to try and get a different result."

QUICK HITS
- Senior Matt Lewis hit a three-pointer for the 48th consecutive contest, the longest active streak in Division I and just 11 games short of the all-time NCAA Division I top 10.
- Lewis now has 1,813 career points at JMU, making him just the third player in program history to score at least 1,800 points.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will play the second half of their two-game series at Northeastern on Sunday, Jan. 24, with tip scheduled for noon for the second day in a row. Live coverage will be available at FloHoops.com.