JMU Ousted by Elon 72-71 in CAA Tournament

Sunday, March 7

Harrisonburg, Va.

2:30 p.m.

James Madison University

13-7,8-2CAA

Elon

9-8,4-7CAA

Elon

James Madison

3/7/2021 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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HARRISONBURG, Va. – Ikenna Ndugba's layup with 30 seconds remaining capped Elon's rally from a 15-point, second-half deficit as James Madison fell 72-71 in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

Justin Amadi and Vado Morse led JMU with 21 points apiece, with Amadi's career high including 8-for-8 from the field with two blocks and three steals. He helped the Dukes to a decisive 38-12 advantage in points in the paint.

Elon connected on 13 3-pointers, including three from Hunter McIntosh (24 points) and four from Simon Wright (18 points), as the advantage on the outside (compared to 6-for-25 from the arc for JMU) negated JMU's edge in the paint.

JMU used defensive intensity and a paint advantage that stood at 32-4 to build a lead as large at 15 in the second half (54-39). The Dukes still led 56-42 when Elon used a 10-1 run to cut it to 57-52 at 9:04.

Two free throws by Morse put JMU ahead 66-63, but McIntosh converted a three-point play at the 1:13 mark while JMU's bench was assessed with a technical foul to give the Phoenix their first lead since the early minutes of the game.

After two free throws by Amadi, Ndugba's layup made it 70-68. JMU had opportunities in the closing seconds wiped away by a charge on one possession and then a missed corner 3-pointer. Morse banked a trey at the buzzer, JMU's only field goal of the final five and a half minutes, to account for the final 72-71 margin.

Amadi led the Dukes with 13 first-half points, capped by a steal and slam at the buzzer to give JMU a 39-29 advantage at the break. Morse added nine in the opening stanza as JMU shot 46% from the floor, compared to 30% for the Pheonix.

With the loss, JMU fell to 13-7. Elon recorded its sixth win in a row to improve to 9-8 and advance to Monday's semifinal against defending champion Hofstra.

QUOTING COACH BYINGTON
"This was obviously a very hard end to a memorable season. I feel bad for the guys - it's abrupt. You put a lot into this and you don't think about the ending. I'm proud of these guys for how much they gave to this program this year. They played hard and together and I was proud of their fight today."