Depth Leads JMU to Victory at CCU, 10th Straight Win Secures SBC No. 2 Seed

Friday, March 1

Conway, S.C.

7:30 p.m.

James Madison University

28-3,15-3Sun Belt

Coastal Carolina

8-21,5-13Sun Belt

James Madison

Coastal Carolina

Depth Leads JMU to Victory at CCU, 10th Straight Win Secures SBC No. 2 Seed

3/1/2024 10:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. – Michael Green III scored 14 points in the first half and Raekwon Horton provided a spark in the clutch as the James Madison (28-3, 15-3 SBC) men's basketball team defeated Coastal Carolina 86-76 at HTC Center on Friday night in its final game of the regular season.

Green finished with 16 points, while Horton added 14, helping lead JMU's bench to outscore the Chants' bench 34-16. Terrence Edwards Jr. scored a team-high 18 points, and Julien Wooden notched 11 points to round out the Dukes in double figures and lead JMU to its 10th straight win.

James Madison concludes its historic regular season schedule with 28 wins, which sets a program record and clinches the second seed of the Sun Belt Conference Championship. The previous best was held by the 1981-82 Dukes who won 24 games.

The victory marks another milestone for the James Madison University basketball program, setting a school record with a combined 49 wins for the men's and women's teams this season. The women defeated Old Dominion 70-58 on Friday to improve to 21-10 overall on the season. The previous best of 48 combined wins was set last season as the 2022-23 men's and women's teams finished 22-11 and 26-8, respectively.

Four players reached double figures in scoring for Coastal Carolina (8-21, 5-13 SBC), and the Chants were nearly able to erase a 21-point lead, but the comeback bid on Senior Night came up short.

How It Happened
1^st Half

Coastal got on the board first and pulled to a 4-0 lead in the first minute of action.
Julien Wooden got the Dukes going with a 3-pointer.
Miroslav Stafl then hit from deep for Coastal, which was answered by Noah Freidel.
Michael Green III checked into the game and immediately scored, hitting a 3-pointer off of an inbound play. The Bronx native scored eight consecutive points in a 49-second span to give JMU a 15-13 lead.
Terrence Edwards Jr. scored four straight for the Dukes, but a 3-pointer by Macvicar put the Chants back on top 22-21.
Raekwon Horton added another spark for the Dukes coming off of the bench and scoring five points. Green added another 3-pointer, and Xavier Brown led a fast break and connected with Julien Wooden on an alley-oop to make it 34-26 JMU.
After a back-and-forth stretch to open the game, the Dukes went on a 9-2 run to close the first half with a 43-28 advantage.
There were six ties, and five lead changes in the first half.

2^nd Half

Noah Freidel made a straightaway 3-pointer for the first field goal of the second half.
The first five minutes of the half see-sawed similarly to the first half.
JMU then went on a 13-5 run and took its largest lead of the game to that point (64-43).
Coastal went on an 18-3 run over a five minute span to close the gap (74-70) with 3:42 to go. The Dukes were just 1-of-6 from the field during this stretch.
Out of a timeout, Horton connected on a 3-pointer to make it 78-72 with less than three minutes to go.
JMU sealed the win from the free-throw line, making six free throws in the final 1:48 to close it out 86-76.

Notes of Interest:

T.J. Bickerstaff scored nine points and five rebounds, while Noah Freidel contributed eight points and had eight rebounds. Xavier Brown and Jaylen Carey combined for another 10 points, five assists, and four rebounds to round out the Dukes' production.
Both teams shot 53 percent from the field, but the Dukes scored 20 points off of turnovers, while Coastal had just nine.
JMU finished 2023-24 undefeated in four of the five months of regular season play:
- 7-0 in November
- 6-0 in December
- 5-3 in January
- 9-0 in February
- 1-0 in March
By earning the second seed at the Sun Belt Championships, the Dukes improved from their fourth seed of a year ago, their first season in the SBC.
Over the past two years, JMU has won 50 games, which is more than any other team in the conference.
This regular-season campaign concludes with a 10-game win streak, which is the nation's fourth longest. This season also started with a historic 14-game win streak. The Dukes were one of just three teams remaining undefeated up until the New Year.

UP NEXT

The Dukes head to Pensacola for the Sun Belt Conference Championships. By clinching the second seed, JMU earned a double-bye into the quarterfinal round.