Eastern Michigan rally sends JMU to hoops defeat

  
Staff Report
JMU sports: www.jmusports.com

Eastern Michigan closed the game with a 25-11 scoring run to beat James Madison 75-64 in non-conference men’s basketball Saturday night.

JMU rallied from a 32-29 halftime deficit to lead 53-50 midway through the second half, but the Dukes hit for only three field goals the rest of the way and fell to 4-4 for the season.

The host Eagles, who play in the Mid-American Conference and who raised their record to 6-3, tied the score on a three-point field goal by Antonio Green with 9:44 to play and went in front to stay 55-53 on two free throws by Jamell Harris with 9:18 remaining.

JMU, which had taken a three-point lead on a dunk by junior forward Denzel Bowles (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville) with 9:56 left, didn’t get its next field goal until sophomore forward Julius Wells (Toledo, Ohio/Libbey) hit for a three-pointer with 4:16 to play to get the Dukes to within 60-58.

Eastern Michigan then sandwiched two of its JMU-opponent-season-high 10 three-pointers around another Bowles dunk to lead 66-60 at 2:50 and added two Carlos Medlock free throws at 1:16 to lead 68-60.

Senior guard Pierre Curtis (Denver, Colo./East/Charis Prep) had a three-pointer at 0:57 to pull JMU to within 68-63, but Eastern Michigan hit on seven of 10 free throws during the final 54 seconds.

Wells led JMU with 19 points and 11 rebounds, his second scoring-rebounding double-double of the season. He hit on eight of 16 shots and had three assists and a steal in 39 minutes while making an appearance less than an hour from his hometown of Toledo, Ohio.

Bowles, who was making his first JMU appearance, finished with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 30 minutes. He became eligible to play for the Dukes following the end of JMU’s fall semester and after transferring from Texas A&M last January. Bowles had 10 second-half points.

Junior forward Brandon Bowdry had 20 points and 14 rebounds for Eastern Michigan.