Hot-Shooting Dukes Outlast Georgia State, 86-79

Saturday, January 25

Atlanta, Ga.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

12-9,5-4Sun Belt

Georgia State

7-14,3-6Sun Belt

James Madison

Georgia St.

1/25/2025 6:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ATLANTA – James Madison men's basketball tied a season-high 13 made threes and shot 50.2 percent from the field in an 86-79 win over Georgia State on Saturday afternoon at the GSU Convocation Center.

Bryce Lindsay led all JMU (12-9, 5-4 SBC) players with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and five rebounds, while Xavier Brown added 17 points and four boards. Five Dukes finished in double figures, as Mark Freeman added 17 points and three assists while helping ice the game from the free throw line late. Additionally, Elijah Hutchins-Everett and Noah Williams each added 11 points to help JMU shoot 30-of-59 (.508) from the floor.

Defensively, the Dukes forced 11 turnovers including nine steals and blocked six Panther shots. AJ Smith swatted a career-high three blocks and also tied a career-best four steals. Ebenezer Dowuona also had three blocks and Brown tallied three steals.

Cesare Edwards led Georgia State (7-14, 3-6 SBC) with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while Toneari Lane (19), Nick McMullen (15), and Jelani Hamilton (14) also reached double figures. McMullen led the Panthers with nine rebounds, while guard Malachi Brown dished out nine assists.

How It Happened
First Half: James Madison 47, Georgia State 39

The Dukes started 5-of-7 from the floor and jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the opening four minutes of play.
The Panthers cut the lead down to three (17-14) with just over 14 minutes in the half, but back-to-back threes from Lindsay and Freeman would spark a 9-2 run to make it 26-16 Dukes with 10:46 left in the half.
Georgia State hit five of its next six shots to trim the JMU lead to three (32-29) with 6:34 left in the first.
The Dukes gained their largest lead (47-33) of the half on a jumper from Noah Williams with 38 seconds remaining, but the Panthers rattled off six quick points to end the half.

Second Half
James Madison 86, Georgia State 79

Georgia State trimmed the deficit to six (51-45) with 15:41 left, but JMU used a 14-3 run to shoot ahead 65-48 with 11:13 left.
JMU gained its biggest lead with 8:28 to go in the game on a layup from Lindsay.
After pushing the lead back out to 16, Georgia State continued a stretch of nine straight makes from the floor and got as close as five with eight seconds to play, but JMU would convert on all its free throws as the Panthers fought the clock, and the Dukes held on for the win.

Game Notes

JMU is now 10-9 against Georgia State and has won five straight meetings dating back to 2013.
The Dukes' 13 total threes are the most in a game overall since they also made 13 versus Utah Valley on Dec. 7, 2024.
JMU had season-highs in first-half points (47) and field-goal percentage (60.0) against Division I opponents. The Dukes also made seven 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
JMU improved to 10-1 when scoring 70 points or more and 7-3 when making 10 or more threes in a game this season.
Noah Williams finished with a season-high 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, his 55th career double-digit scoring game.
Five JMU players finished with 10 or more points for the second time this season (Midway, Dec. 29).