Comeback Falls Just Short as Dukes Fall at Delaware

Saturday, January 28

Newark, Del.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

6-17, 4-6CAA

Delaware

9-14, 2-8CAA

James Madison

Delaware

1/28/2017 11:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score 2016-17 Schedule 2016-17 Statistics @JMUMBasketball

NEWARK, Del. - James Madison made a pair of second-half comebacks on Saturday evening, but couldn't bounce back from a sluggish start as Delaware handed the Dukes 66-61 loss in Colonial Athletic Association action at the Bob Carpenter Center.

The Dukes (6-17, 4-6 CAA) went just 8-of-26 (30.8 percent) from the field in the first half, while allowing Delaware (9-14, 2-8 CAA) to hit on 12 of its 22 (54.6 percent) first-half shots after the Blue Hens entered the contest shooting just 40.4 percent from the field.

Senior guard Shakir Brown continued his standout week, racking up a season-high 20 points and seven boards, while senior forward Ivan Lukic exploded for 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, besting his previous career scoring record by seven points. Senior guard Jackson Kent tallied 10 points, while senior forward Paulius Satkus added nine points and eight rebounds.

JMU trailed by 12 (29-41) with 14:32 to play in the game, but used a 13-0 run to storm back and take a 42-41 lead with 10:28 to play. The Blue Hens responded with nine straight points, eventually pushing their lead to 55-46 with 4:52 left, but the Dukes again bounced back, reeling off an 11-2 run, including a pair of threes from Brown, to knot things at 57-57 with 1:22 on the clock.

That would be the closest the Dukes got, however, after two free throws and a fast-break layup put Delaware back up by four. The Blue Hens would go 7-of-8 from the free throw line across the final 69 seconds to close out the contest.

Guards Ryan Daly and Eric Carter paced the Delaware offense, racking up 16 points apiece to go with nine and eight rebounds, respectively. Devonne Pinkard added 12 points off the bench on the strength of a 3-of-5 performance from behind the arc.

QUOTING COACH ROWE
"I was a disappointed with our effort from the start tonight. We fought and battled back, but we can't put ourselves in a hole like that in this league. We have to know that there are enough good teams in this league that you can't afford a letdown. We'll get back in the gym and get our minds right for next week."

AROUND THE CAA
9-1 | UNCW
8-2 | College of Charleston
6-4 | Elon
6-4 | Northeastern
5-4 | William & Mary
5-5 | Towson
4-6 | James Madison
2-7 | Drexel
2-8 | Hofstra
2-8 | Delaware

UP NEXT
The Dukes will remain on the road next week as they travel to Elon for a 7 p.m. contest on Thursday, Feb. 2. On Saturday, the Phoenix picked up an 84-70 win at Hofstra to improve to 6-4 in league play, though JMU did earn a 60-59 win over Elon on Jan. 14 at the Convocation Center.