Sophomore forward Yohanny Dalembert scored a career-high 21 points to lead JMU to its fifth straight win, a 68-61 CAA win against a feisty College of Charleston team on Sunday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center.
After a winter storm forced the postponement of the contest from Saturday evening to Sunday, the Dukes used a balanced attack to improve to 18-11 on the season, including an 11-5 mark in conference play, to remain in a tie for first place heading into the final week of the regular season. The five-game win streak is also JMU’s longest conference streak since Jan. 3-15, 2011.
Dalembert’s 21 points and game-high eight rebounds paced three Dukes in double figures, as junior guard Winston Grays scored 13 points off the bench and knocked down three of his four three-point attempts, while sophomore guard Jackson Kent added 10 on 4-of-6 shooting.
Redshirt sophomore forward Dimitrije Cabarkapa continued his prolific play off the bench, chipping in eight points, hitting a pair of treys, and both freshman guard Joey McLean and sophomore forward Tom Vodanovich both grabbed six rebounds in the win.
The Dukes converted 41.3 percent (19-46) from the floor and 37.5 percent (6-16) from long range while the Cougars (8-21, 3-13 CAA) shot 41.8 percent (23-55) for the game and just 33 percent (7-21) from beyond the arc. The Dukes outscored the Cougs 24-8 from the free throw line, with 26 more tries from the stripe. JMU won the rebounding war 35-29, including 11-9 on the offensive glass, and committed just nine turnovers, as opposed to CofC’s 11.
JMU also held advantages in turnover points (11-7) and in transition (10-0) while the bench production was much deeper for the Dukes, who outscored the Cougars 24-7 from the reserve players.
Joe Chealey paced CofC with team highs 19 points and five assists while Cameron Johnson scored 13 points, hitting a trio of threes. Adjehi Baru also contributed eight points and a team-high seven rebounds in the defeat.
The Dukes opened the game on an 8-3 run, fiving coming from Kent, but seven straight points by the Cougars gave the visitors a 10-8 advantage with 14:33 left in the first. The margin never exceeded three points for either team until Dalembert scored six the of team’s final eight points in the last 4:38 to give JMU a 32-28 halftime lead.
Teams traded baskets for very much the majority of the first 10 minutes of the second half but a pair of Dalembert free throws and a 3-pointer by Grays gave JMU its largest lead of the game by either team at 48-41 with 9:52 to go. Leading 51-46, the Dukes scored seven in a row, capped off by a NBA-range triple by Grays, putting them ahead by double digits at 58-46 with just less than six minutes to play.
CofC cut the deficit back to five at 58-53 with a 7-0 run of its own with 4:03 remaining but Cabarkapa subbed in and knocked down his second trey of the game to make it 61-53 with 3:38 to play. The Cougars never mustered a run down the stretch, going 2-for-7 from the floor and JMU scored its final seven points from the free throw line to secure the victory.
JMU will back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 25, when the Dukes travel to UNCW for their last road contest of the regular season at 7 p.m. The Seahawks, along with Northeastern and William & Mary, are currently tied for first place with the Dukes.
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