Senior forward Denzel Bowles (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville) had a game-high 20 points and sparked a second-half run to lead James Madison to a 74-67 men’s basketball victory at The Citadel Saturday night at McAlister Field House.
JMU picked up its first win of the season to improve to 1-1. The Citadel dropped to 0-3 on the young season.
The Dukes trailed 30-25 at the break and 35-25 with 19:07 to go after a pair of quick Bulldog buckets. A three-point play by junior forward Rayshawn Goins (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville) spurred an 8-0 run as part of a bigger 21-5 run that gave JMU a 46-40 lead. That run included one stretch with Bowles hitting five of JMU’s six field goals over a span of two and a half minutes.
The Citadel got as close as three on three separate occasions, including on an Austin Dahn three-pointer to make it 65-62 with 2:55 remaining. However, Goins hit a layup and the Dukes converted 7-of-10 free-throw opportunities to clinch the 74-67 victory.
Bowles finished with 20 points while hitting an impressive 10 of his 12 field-goal attempts. He also had five rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Bowles has reached double figures in all 27 career JMU games and posted his 13th career 20-point outing.
Bridgewater gets first W
Bridgewater College picked up its first win of the season Saturday night with a 99-71 victory over Penn State-Brandywine at the Eastern Mennonite Top-Off Classic.
The Eagles led by eight at the half, 42-34, but an 18-8 run to start the second half, capped by a jumper by the Lions Tim Carroll, tied the score at 52-52 with 14:46 remaining in the game.
Bridgewater answered with a 10-0 run featuring three points from Justin Brake (Greenville, Va./Riverheads), a 3-pointer by Kyle Hammond (Bluefield, W.Va./Bluefield) and layups by Ronnie Thomas (Roanoke, Va./Patrick Henry) and Daniel McClain (Falls Church, Va./Marshall) to regain contol, 62-52.
Rick Maloney (Virginia Beach, Va./Floyd Kellam) continued his impressive early-season efforts with a career-high 21 points and fellow senior Hammond added 15. Freshmen Rashad Moore (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian) and Thomas scored 10 each while Brake and Tavis Stapleton (Carthage, Tex./Carthage) just missed double digits as each finished with nine points.
“Rick has really been playing well for us,” Bridgewater head coach Don Burgess said. “We need Rick and Kyle to be consistently efficient. If they can do that, we have other guys who are capable of stepping up.”
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