Men's Hoops Rolls Past Northeastern

Tuesday, January 11

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

10-3,1-1CAA

Northeastern

6-9,0-4CAA

Northeastern

James Madison

1/11/2022 10:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

HARRISONBURG, Va. - James Madison bounced back in a big way on Tuesday night, putting in a complete performance as the Dukes rolled to an 89-66 win over Northeastern in men's basketball action at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

The Dukes (10-3, 1-1) used strong defense to take an 11-point lead at halftime and continued to stretch the advantage, shooting 59.2% (29-49) from the field and forcing 19 turnovers out of Northeastern (6-9, 0-4) in their largest win ever over the Huskies.

Redshirt junior guard Vado Morse paced five JMU players in double figures, racking up 20 points on the evening, while graduate student Charles Falden added 18 on a flawless 7-7 shooting performance that included four three-pointers on as many attempts.

Redshirt sophomore Julien Wooden, redshirt freshman Justin Amadi and graduate student Takal Molson all joined the pair in double figures as the Dukes went 12-for-23 (52.2%) from behind the arc.

Guard Jahmyl Telfort led the Northeastern offense with 17 points on the night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The Dukes started strong for the second straight game, rushing out to an 8-2 lead before Northeastern closed the gap. The Huskies followed with a run of their own, pushing their own advantage to 19-13 with 10:43 left in the half, but that would mark their largest lead of the game.

JMU immediately responded with 15 straight points across just 4:45 of game time to make it 28-19 and would not trail by fewer than four the rest of the way. The Dukes went up by as many as 14 on a Morse three-pointer before taking a 40-29 lead into halftime.

Second Half
After the break, the Dukes continued their push, taking a 62-39 lead with 13:28 to play. Northeastern pushed back, cutting the lead to 15 on three separate occasions, but JMU ripped off nine straight points in the final three minutes before a free throw from the Huskies with 22 seconds left provided the final margin.

QUICK HITS
- The Dukes went 19-of-20 (95%) from the free throw line, their best performance at the stripe since hitting at an identical clip in a win at Florida Atlantic on Dec. 20, 2003.
- Redshirt freshman Terrence Edwards stuffed the stat sheet, recording six points, five boards, four assists, four steals and the only block of the game across just 22 minutes.
- JMU improved to 14-0 under Mark Byington when allowing fewer than 70 points.
- The Dukes' 52.2% clip from the three-point line was their best long-range performance since hitting 13-of-24 threes in a Nov. 20, 2019 win at Old Dominion.
- This weekend marked the first time JMU had shot better than 50% from three in consecutive games since accomplishing the feat on Nov. 24 and Nov. 27 in 2015 - wins over Eastern Mennonite and Marshall.
- Charles Falden went 7-for-7 from the field, marking the first perfect shooting performance of his collegiate career that involved more than one field goal attempt.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will hit the road this weekend, playing away from home for the first time in five games as they travel to William & Mary for a 4 p.m. matchup on Saturday, Jan. 15.

The Tribe are 3-12, but won their first two league games over Hofstra and Northeastern before seeing their matchup against Charleston, previously scheduled for Tuesday night as well, postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the program.