Cold Shooting Sinks Dukes at South Alabama

Thursday, January 12

Mobile, Ala.

8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT

James Madison University

11-7,2-3Sun Belt

South Alabama

8-9,2-3Sun Belt

James Madison

South Alabama

1/12/2023 11:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

MOBILE, Ala. - James Madison nearly erased a 13-point second-half deficit on Thursday night, but could not quite cap off the comeback, falling 63-62 at South Alabama in Sun Belt Conference men's basketball action at the Mitchell Center.

The Dukes (11-7, 2-3 SBC) could not overcome a frigid night from the three-point line, as they missed their first 13 attempts from deep before finishing just 3-19 (15.8%) from deep. USA (8-9, 2-3 SBC) committed 20 turnovers on the day, but held off a pair of JMU looks in the final seconds to secure the win.

Sophomore Terrence Edwards provided much of the offensive spark for the Dukes, hitting nine of his 13 shots on his way to 20 points, six rebounds and four steals - his third 20-point effort of the season thus far, most on the team.

Sophomore Tyree Ihenacho continued his strong stretch of play, tallying 11 points without missing a shot and adding a pair of steals, while junior Julien Wooden added 10 points himself.

South Alabama guard Isaiah Moore led the Jaguars with 16 points on the night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The Dukes sprung out of the gate, scoring the first six points of the game in their first four possessions, but USA answered with an 11-2 run to take the lead and used a stretch of 12-of-15 shooting to push the advantage to as much as 28-16 at the 4:59 mark.

JMU would chip away with an 8-2 run, but the Jaguars scored the final three points of the period to take a 33-24 lead into the break.

Second Half
After halftime, USA used back-to-back three-pointers to push its lead to 39-26, the largest advantage of the contest.

The Dukes would slowly chip away, however, slowly pulling back to within three for the first time at the 5:39 mark, then cutting the gap to just one when Edwards stole a pass with 45 seconds left and went coast-to-coast for a three-point play.

After blocking a shot and nearly forcing a shot clock violation on USA's subsequent possession, the Dukes had two opportunities from underneath the basket on out-of-bounds plays, but could not get either of a pair of shots to fall as the Jaguars barely saw out the 63-62 win.

QUICK HITS
- The Dukes' 15 steals marked their most thus far in Sun Belt play and the fifth time this year reaching that number.
- Graduate Mezie Offurum pulled down eight boards on the night, his most in a JMU uniform.

UP NEXT
The Dukes return home this weekend, welcoming Georgia Southern to the Atlantic Union Bank Center at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14, as the second half of a basketball doubleheader that will see the women's basketball team in action at 4 p.m.

On Thursday night, GSU got a buzzer-beating layup to fall to pick up a 67-65 win at App State, improving to 11-7 (4-1 SBC) on the season.