Dukes Drop Hard-Fought CAA Opener at W&M

Friday, December 28

Williamsburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

7-7

William & Mary

5-8

James Madison

William & Mary

12/28/2018 11:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score @JMUMBasketball JMU MBB on Instagram Box Score Highlights

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - William & Mary outscored James Madison by a 9-4 margin across the final 4:46 on Friday evening, handing the Dukes a hard-fought 79-74 loss in both teams' Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball opener at Kaplan Arena.

Both offenses operated with efficiency on the evening, as the Dukes went 25-of-55 (45.5 percent) from the floor and 16-of-19 (84.2 percent) from the line, but W&M used a 50 percent clip in the second half from both the field (15-of-30) and three-point line (7-of-14) to turn a one-point halftime lead into a victory.

Sophomore Matt Lewis hit a career-high five three-pointers to lead the Dukes with a game- and season-high 26 points, adding six boards and a trio of assists on the evening. Senior Stuckey Mosley added 16 points and six assists, tied for the most in his JMU career, while sophomore Dwight Wilson chipped in 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with nine rebounds.

The teams battled throughout, with neither team ever leading by more than six for the final 25:55 of the contest, before W&M held the Dukes scoreless for a 4:08 stretch following Mosley's jumper that tied things at 70-70 with 4:56 to play.

Lewis would hit four straight free throws in the final minute, bookended around a pair of Tribe misses, that cut the deficit to 75-74, but after two made W&M foul shots with 26 seconds to play, the Dukes' potential game-tying three-pointer from the right wing was tipped to seal the hard-fought loss.

QUOTING COACH ROWE
"Tough one for us tonight. I'm proud of the way we battled today and came out attacking from the very first minute. We made a couple mistakes and you can't do that on the road against a good team in the league. We'll keep building and get back to work for another tough one on the road Sunday."

QUICK HITS
- With his pair of three-pointers on Friday, senior Stuckey Mosley has made at least one in all 14 games this year and in 17 straight contests dating back to last season.
- Sophomore Matt Lewis racked up 26 points, giving him three 20-point performances this year and 11 in his 46-game collegiate career.
- Sophomore Darius Banks stuffed the stat sheet despite foul trouble, going for eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. He scored his 500th career point on Friday, closing the evening with 505 across just 46 career games.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will remain on the road for the weekend, closing out a four-game road trip with a 4 p.m. contest at Elon on Sunday, Dec. 30. In their conference home opener on Friday night, the Phoenix dropped a 77-60 decision to Towson to fall to 4-10 (0-1 CAA).