WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Senior Daniel Dixon hit a free throw with seven seconds to play and James Madison couldn't get a go-ahead bucket to fall as the Dukes dropped a 73-72 heartbreaker in Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball action on Thursday night at Kaplan Arena.
The Dukes (6-14, 4-3 CAA) took a four-point lead into halftime, but W&M (9-8, 3-3 CAA) went 22-of-39 (56.4 percent) from the field 57.1 percent (12-of-21) mark in the second half to hand JMU its second one-possession loss in the last three games.
After the Tribe tied the back-and-forth contest at 72-72 on a putback layup with 1:05 to play, the Dukes could not convert a pair of chances and Dixon drew a foul with 7.0 seconds on the clock to earn a chance at the go-ahead points.
Dixon hit his second free throw to make it 73-72 and the Dukes took a timeout, but a heavily-contested layup caught iron and the putback effort from senior forward
Yohanny Dalembert was true, but came just after the final horn had sounded.
Senior guard
Jackson Kent notched his eighth straight double-digit scoring effort to pace the Dukes, racking up 17 points on a 6-of-13 shooting night that included a pair of three-pointers. Kent now has 1,049 career points, which moves him into 27th in program history, just six points shy of Head Coach
Louis Rowe, who has 1,055.
Senior guard
Shakir Brown tallied 13 points, including a pair of crucial second-half three-pointers, to post his first double-digit performance since Jan. 2, while senior forward
Paulius Satkus went 4-of-8 from the field to pick up 11 points, his fifth double-digit scoring night in the last eight games.
Dixon led the way for the Tribe with 18 points, but did so on just 4-of-10 shooting, with the help of an 8-of-9 evening at the free throw line. In all, W&M went 22-of-34 from the charity stripe, while the Dukes knocked down just 14 of their 25 free throws.
QUOTING COACH ROWE
"This was another tough one. We made some mistakes down the stretch on the road against a good team, but I'm really proud of the effort and energy we brought tonight."
CAA STANDINGS
7-0 | UNCW
6-1 | College of Charleston
5-2 | Northeastern
4-3 | James Madison
3-3 | William & Mary
3-4 | Elon
3-4 | Towson
1-5 | Drexel
1-6 | Hofstra
1-6 | Delaware
UP NEXT
The Dukes remain on the road this weekend as they head south to Charleston, S.C. for a 4 p.m. rematch at College of Charleston on Saturday, Jan. 21. The two teams met on Jan. 12, when the Cougars handed JMU a heartbreaking 53-51 loss in the final minute at the JMU Convocation Center.