Dukes Outlast Eagles, Complete Comeback Victory at Georgia Southern

Saturday, February 24

Statesboro, Ga.

5 p.m.

James Madison University

26-3,13-3Sun Belt

Georgia Southern

6-23,6-10Sun Belt

James Madison

Ga. Southern

Dukes Outlast Eagles, Complete Comeback Victory at Georgia Southern

2/24/2024 9:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. – The James Madison men's basketball team extended its best start in program history by picking up win number 26 of the season with an 80-74 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.

After trailing by 19 points in the first half, marking their largest deficit this season, the Dukes (26-3, 13-3 SBC) rallied by sinking their first four shots of the second half. Harnessing this momentum, they orchestrated a remarkable comeback on the road. This victory marked Julien Wooden's 83rd career win, propelling him to a shared position atop the JMU all-time wins list alongside Dan Ruland and David Dupont, who both played from 1979-1983.

Terrence Edwards Jr. led the team with 20 points and had a game-high six assists. T.J. Bickerstaff contributed a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Raekwon Horton provided 13 points in a burst from the bench. Wooden scored 11 points while shooting 75 percent from three in the win.

The home team Eagles (6-23, 6-10 SBC) started the game by making 13 of their first 23 shots and going on a 24-10 run over a nine-minute stretch. Tyren Moore scored 20 of his game-high 27 points in the first half before JMU's defense stepped up, holding GSU to shoot just 32 percent in the second half. The Dukes were aggressive on the boards, outrebounding the Eagles 22-13 and scoring 26 points in the paint in the final 20 minutes of action.

How It Happened
1^st Half

The Eagles held an 8-3 lead four minutes into the game, while JMU had two turnovers and hit just one of its first six shots from the floor. Bickerstaff had the team's only field goal to go along with an additional free throw.
Out of the first media timeout, GSU extended its lead with a fastbreak layup before Raekwon Horton hit the first field goal for JMU in over four minutes of play, making it 10-6 in favor of the Eagles.
GSU went on a 13-3 run over a 3:39 span, hitting five of six shots from the floor. The Eagles started the game by hitting 67 percent of their 3-point field goals (6-9).
That 13-3 run snowballed into a 24-10 run over a nine-minute stretch, which helped the Eagles gain a 19-point advantage, their largest lead of the game, 36-17 with 3:52 remaining in the first half.
Tyren Moore scored 20 first half points, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-6 from three.
JMU hit just two 3-pointers and shot 44 percent from the floor in the first half while trailing by 15 points at the intermission (45-30).

2^nd Half

JMU scored the first seven points and made its first four shots out of the half.
T.J. Bickerstaff completed an and-one opportunity to make it a 10-2 start to the half for JMU.
Meanwhile, GSU cooled down, making just three of their first 12 shots.
The Dukes were 10-of-18 from the field, led the rebound battle 16-10, and outscored the Eagles 27-14 through the first 12 minutes of the half, allowing them to chip away at their deficit. At the media timeout JMU trailed by just four points (61-57).
T.J. Bickerstaff followed a miss and put-back a massive dunk to make it a one-point game (61-60).
After trading free throws, Xavier Brown hit a straightway 3-pointer to give the Dukes their first lead of the game (65-64).
With 4:09 remaining, Georgia Southern tied the game 69-69 as Tyren Moore hit a nice 3-pointer. It was the Eagles' first triple of the second half to that point.
Raekwon Horton threw down a two-hand slam with contact and made a free throw to put JMU back up by three. This was a part of a 5-0 scoring stretch that the Santee, S.C. native had, which included a steal and breakaway dunk on the next GSU possession.
JMU outscored the Eagles 6-2 in the final three minutes of play to escape with an 80-74 comeback victory on the road.

Other Notes:

Georgia Southern's 19-point lead was the largest deficit JMU has faced this season.
10 of Raekwon Horton's 13 points came in a clutch second half performance.
The Dukes now have 13 Sun Belt Conference wins this season, surpassing their 12-win season in the conference last season.
With their 26^th win of the regular season, the Dukes have now added to their program record for most wins in a season.
This was the ninth time this season that Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 20 or more points. In the last four games the Georgia native is averaging 20.7 ppg.
T.J. Bickerstaff's 17 points and 10 rebounds marked his ninth double-double of the season, which ranks in the Top-50 across Division I.
In addition to Raekwon Horton off the bench, Jaylen Carey provided a much-needed spark. The freshman finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
In the past two seasons, Coach Mark Byington has led the team to 48 victories.
The Dukes are now 3-1 all-time against Georgia Southern.
This was the 850^th win for JMU men's basketball, dating back to the 1969-70 season.

What's Next:
The Dukes will head to Atlanta and play Georgia State on Wednesday, February 28th, before closing their regular season out at Coastal Carolina on Saturday.