Poor shooting plagues JMU in 73-47 loss to Towson

Plagued by poor shooting from the floor throughout the game and outscored 42-19 in the second half, the James Madison men’s basketball team fell on the road at Towson, 73-47, Jan. 19. With the loss, the Dukes fall to 9-10 and 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association while the Tigers improve to 10-9 and 5-1 in the league.

Madison shot just 25.5 percent (14-of-55) from the floor for the game, including 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from the three-point arc, while Towson was 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field and 36.4 percent (8-of-22) on threes. TU dominated the boards 45-33.

Senior guard Alione Diouf was the only Duke in double figures with 11 points, while the Tigers had five players in double digits, with 13 points each from Jerome Hairston, Jerrelle Benimon and Bilal Dixon. Benimon added a game-high 12 boards for the double-double.

In the opening half, JMU led for a good portion, despite the biggest lead being just four. The two teams were tied five times and exchanged the lead nine times as the game was a battle. With Madison leading 21-19 with just over four minutes to go in the half, Towson went on 10-0 spurt over the next two minutes, to take a 29-21 lead. JMU chipped away with a 7-2 surge of its own to cut the halftime margin to just 31-28 for the hosts. Poor shooting in hitting just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) in the half, especially numerous missed open looks, plagued JMU, but the Dukes hung around by hitting four three-pointers and 10-of-11 from the free throw line.

Towson pulled away in the second half early, building the lead steadily throughout the half and winning each segment between media timeouts while hitting better than 50 percent from the field in the half. The initial run at the start of the half was a 11-4 run over the first seven minutes of the second half that pushed it to 42-32 with 13:19 to go in the game. Part of the issue also was the Dukes’ scoring just six points in the first 10 minutes of the half, finishing just 8-of-26 from the field in the second half.

Madison will be back on the court at home in the Convocation Center Wednesday, Jan. 23 hosting Delaware at 7 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for television on Thursday, Jan. 24, but was moved back to the normal Wednesday slot after television changes on Friday eliminated the broadcast and allowed for the return to the normal Wednesday slot.