Men's Hoops Battles to Road Win at Marshall

Saturday, December 31

Huntington, W.Va.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

11-4,2-0Sun Belt

Marshall

12-3,1-1Sun Belt

James Madison

Marshall

12/31/2022 5:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Sophomore guard Terrence Edwards scored 16 points and James Madison put together another strong defensive performance as the Dukes capped their first Sun Belt Conference weekend with a second road win, downing Marshall in a 72-66 battle at the Cam Henderson Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Dukes (11-4, 2-0 SBC) continued producing on the offensive side, hitting at a 52.9% (27-51) clip on the afternoon and hitting four of their seven three-pointers in the opening half. On the defensive end, JMU held Marshall (12-3, 1-1 SBC) well below its season average of 83.3 points per game, limiting the Thundering Herd 41.7% shooting from the field.

Edwards led the way with efficiency, going 6-of-9 from the field on his way to his eight double-figure scoring game of the season, adding six rebounds and four assists along the way.

Junior guard Noah Freidel keyed the Dukes' to a first-half advantage, scoring all 14 of his points before halftime, while graduate forward Mezie Offurum and freshman guard Xavier Brown each tallied 11 points.

Senior guard Taevion Kinsey racked up 18 points and seven assists while playing all 40 minutes to lead the Herd.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Marshall opened up the contest quickly, scoring the first seven points of the game after a three-pointer just four seconds after the tip. The Dukes began to chip away immediately, however, then ripped off a 16-2 run across just 4:03 of game time that saw JMU storm out to a 25-15 lead with 9:23 to play.

The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half, with the Dukes battling through a 6-0 Marshall run to head into the break with a 40-29 advantage.

Second Half
JMU stretched its lead to 13 early in the second half, but the Herd immediately responded with an 11-0 run of their own, eventually taking their first lead of the period with a layup that made it 49-48 with 10:53 to play.

The Dukes calmed down on the offensive end, never letting Marshall lead by more than one point and putting together runs of four straight and seven straight to push things back to 65-54 at the 3:49 mark.

Marshall used a flurry to cut things to five points and got to within four with 12 seconds to play, but Edwards knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds, to put the contest away.

QUICK HITS
- With the victory, JMU has started 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2016-17 and 2-0 on the road in league play for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
- The Dukes' win was the first for any Marshall opponent at the Cam Henderson Center in 2022-23.
- JMU got 38 points from players coming off the bench after entering the game averaging 37.14, second-most in all of Division I.
- Junior Noah Freidel now has six games this season with at least three three-pointers.
- The Dukes shot better than 50% from the field for the ninth time this season, marking the first time since the 2016-17 campaign that JMU has reached that number nine times in one year.

UP NEXT
The Dukes return home this week, opening a two-game weekend at the Atlantic Union Bank Center with a 7 p.m. matchup against Texas State on Thursday, Jan. 5. The Bobcats host Troy this evening after dropping their SBC opener to ULM to fall to 7-7 (0-1 SBC) on the season.