Banks, Lewis Power Dukes Past New Hampshire

Saturday, November 23

Harrisonburg, Va.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

4-2,0-0CAA

New Hampshire

3-3,0-0America East

New Hampshire

James Madison

11/23/2019 5:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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HARRISONBURG, Va. - Junior guard Darius Banks racked up a career-high 23 points and junior guard Matt Lewis added 20 on Saturday afternoon as James Madison took down New Hampshire in a 78-71 triumph at home in non-conference men's basketball action.

JMU (4-2) held the hot-shooting Wildcats (3-3) at bay for much of the afternoon, allowing UNH to shoot just 36.3% (29-of-80) from the field, including a 10-of-35 (28.6%) performance from long range, after it had entered the afternoon with clips of 46.2% and 37.9%, respectively.

Banks and Lewis' stellar scoring performances led the Dukes, as Banks tacked on five rebounds to go with a 7-of-11 shooting day and Lewis added eight boards himself. Junior forward Dwight Wilson also chipped in nine points and seven rebounds across just 13 minutes in his first home game back from injury.

The Dukes jumped on UNH early, sprinting out to a 17-4 lead after just 6:18, before pushing the advantage to as many as 24 prior to the break and taking a 42-23 lead into halftime. The Wildcats cut the gap to nine early in the second half, but JMU reeled off 15 straight points to go back up 60-38 with 10:34 to play.

JMU would maintain the lead, taking a 72-48 lead with 5:08 to play, but New Hampshire would catch fire in the final minutes against the Dukes bench, cutting the gap quickly to close within single digits with 43 second to play before Lewis made four straight free throws to put the game completely out of reach.

QUOTING COACH ROWE
"I'm proud of the way this team answered the bell and came out ready to go from the jump. We have some lessons to learn about closing things out and finishing the same way we start, but I'm happy to get a good win and encouraged with the way we played defense today."

QUICK HITS
- Freshman guard Jayvis Harvey tallied a career-high nine points in just 15 minutes, going 5-for-5 from the free throw line in his best scoring performance since coming to JMU.
- With his 20 points on Saturday, junior Matt Lewis now has 1,108 points in his JMU career, moving him past Denzel Bowles (2009-11; 1,101) and into 26th all-time in program history He is just 15 points shy of Jamar Perry (1996-2000; 1,123) in 25th.
- Saturday marked the first game this season and the first game since a 69-58 win over College of Charleston on Jan. 5 of last season in which the Dukes never trailed.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will be back at home early in the week, as they welcome Coppin State back to the Convocation Center for a 7 p.m. matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 26. The Eagles are currently 1-5 on the season with a home game scheduled for Saturday evening against Cornell.

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This article created using technology provided by Data Skrive.