Brown's 30 Points Propel Dukes Past Marshall, 107-84

Sunday, December 6

Harrisonburg, Va.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

7-3

107

Marshall

0-6

Marshall

James Madison

107

12/6/2015 5:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Junior guard Shakir Brown scored a career-high 30 points on Sunday afternoon to lead James Madison to a 107-84 win over Marshall in non-conference men's basketball action at the JMU Convocation Center.

The effort marked the second 100-point effort of the year for the Dukes, who moved to 7-3 with their fifth consecutive win. Marshall fell to 0-6 with the loss.

JMU scored 106 points in its Nov. 24 win over Eastern Mennonite, but Sunday afternoon's performance marked the first time the Dukes cleared the century mark against a Division I team since a 112-110 overtime loss at Seton Hall on Dec. 22, 2007. The 107 points were also JMU's most in regulation since a 111-77 win over Liberty on Dec. 2, 1998.

Brown's 30-point afternoon marked the first such effort since then-senior A.J. Davis scored 36 in a win at William & Mary on March 2, 2013. The Baltimore, Md., native went 9-for-15 from the field, including a season-best 5-for-9 from long range, and hit seven of his nine free throws on the day, while finding time to pull down eight rebounds.

Senior guard Ron Curry notched his second consecutive game with at least 20 points, scoring 20 exactly on 7-for-11 shooting while grabbing seven boards and tallying three assists. Junior forward Dimitrije Cabarkapa picked up 18 points on the strength of four three-pointers, while junior forward Tom Vodanovich posted his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Junior guard Jackson Kent filled the stat sheet on the afternoon, just missing a triple-double with nine points, seven assists and a career-best 11 rebounds.

After scoring went back and forth in the early minutes, the Dukes got a jumper from Vodanovich at the 14:20 mark that gave JMU a lead they would hold for the remainder of the contest. The basket kicked off an 11-0 run that would become an 18-5 run as the Dukes extended the lead as high as 14 before the break.

JMU continued to pull away in the second half, stretching the advantage to as many as 27 on two occasions. The Dukes went 20-for-38 (52.6%) from the field after halftime, including a 9-for-19 (47.4%) mark from behind the arc.

James Kelly led the way for Marshall on the afternoon, posting a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Ryan Taylor and Stevie Browning joined him as double-digit scorers with 19 and 15, respectively.

QUOTING COACH BRADY - COACH BRADY PRESS CONFERENCE - PLAYERS PRESS CONFERENCE
"The scores will eventually go down, in my opinion, so for us, it's trying to continue to get better defensively. I think this is the fourth or fifth game in a row we've held our opponent to about 43% or lower, but we gave up some dinky baskets. Part of that is that we don't have a guy flying over the rim to block shots. We have to be a positional team, we have to fight for low-post position, we have to do a better job of blocking out and we have to fight for loose balls."

PLAY OF THE GAME - COMPLETE HIGHLIGHTS

Junior forward Dimitrije Cabarkapa gets a great feed from junior guard Jackson Kent and throws down a monster dunk late in the second half of JMU's win. The slam started an 11-3 run that pushed the Dukes' lead to 99-72, putting JMU up by a game-high 27 points.

CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS
Senior guard Ron Curry continued his march up the JMU all-time scorer's list with his 20 points on Sunday afternoon. Curry's afternoon gives him 1,157 for his career, moving him past John Newman (1983-87; 1,151) and into sole possession of 20th all-time for the Dukes. Andrey Semenov (2008-14) sits in 19th with 1,203 and Pierre Curtis (2006-10) is in 18th with 1,237.

LONG-RANGE BIG MAN
Junior forward Dimitrije Cabarkapa hit four of his eight three-pointers on Sunday afternoon, marking his 18th straight game with at least one made field goal from beyond the arc. In that time, the 6-10, 240-pound junior has hit 30 of his 68 three-point attempts, good for a 44.1% clip.

PHOTO OF THE GAME - COMPLETE PHOTO GALLERY
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Junior guard Shakir Brown celebrates after hitting a layup and getting fouled in the second half. Brown scored 21 points after the break en route to JMU's first 30-point performance since A.J. Davis' 36-point performance at William & Mary on March 2, 2013.

AROUND THE CAA
The Colonial Athletic Association went 2-1 to close out the weekend on Sunday afternoon. In addition to JMU's win, Hofstra picked up an 86-80 home win over Appalachian State, while Delaware fell to Columbia on the road, 82-69.

UP NEXT
The Dukes are off for six days, their longest break since the season started, before welcoming in-state rival George Mason to the Convocation Center on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 4 p.m. This will be the 91st meeting between the two teams, but the first since the 2012-13 season. Mason sits at 4-5 on the year, but faces Northern Iowa at home on Tuesday, Dec. 8, prior to visiting Harrisonburg.