A late 14-2 run by James Madison men’s basketball cut Hampton’s lead to two with 2:04 to go, but timely free throws by the Pirates secured the 69-65 victory over the Dukes on Monday night at the HU Convocation Center.
JMU fell to 7-8 on the season with the loss, its final non-conference game of the 2012-13 season. Hampton improved to 3-10 on the year.
Deron Powers led all players with 19 points and added five assists for the Pirates. Du’Vaughn Maxwell added a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Ramon Mercado tallied 12 points, five boards, three assists and three steals.
Senior forward Rayshawn Goins (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville) paced the Dukes with his fourth double-double of the season, putting up a team-high 16 points, including 8-of-12 from the charity stripe, and 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Andre Nation (Plant City, Fla./Faith Baptist Christian) and senior guard Devon Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) each posted 13 points for JMU, with 10 of Moore’s points coming in the final 5:34 of the game.
The Dukes started the game on a 13-5 run and were able to build their largest lead of the game when Nation sank a jumper to put the team up 19-8 at the 11:49 mark of the first half. A three-pointer from Ke’Ron Brown, however, sparked a 17-6 run by the Pirates to close out the half up by one, 30-29.
After a quick layup by Hampton to start the second half, JMU settled down and drew even with the Pirates twice before a jumper gave the opponents a two-point lead at the 16:11 mark. Hampton pushed the lead to as many as 14 points with less than five minutes to go and held JMU without a field goal for more than seven minutes.
A layup by Goins with 4:09 to go started a mad dash by the Dukes to get within two at 63-61, but early fouls caught up to JMU and sent the Pirates to the line to push the lead back to six. With 21 seconds left on the clock, Nation was fouled by Brown and sank both free throws to pull back within three. A steal by senior guard A.J Davis (Columbus, Ohio/Harmony Community School (Wyoming)) gave the Dukes a chance to send tie the game, but JMU was unable to convert the possession.
Hampton’s bench scored 29 of the Pirates’ points while JMU’s bench only posted 16. The Dukes, however, took advantage of second chances and tallied 14 points from those opportunities while the Pirates converted none of their second chance opportunities.
JMU will return to action this Wednesday as the Dukes host conference-foe UNCW at the JMU Convocation Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., and it will be the Dukes’ first home game of Colonial Athletic Association play.
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