Balanced Attack Powers Dukes Past Drexel

Sunday, January 31

Harrisonburg, Va.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

9-5,4-1CAA

Drexel

7-6,2-4CAA

Drexel

James Madison

1/31/2021 6:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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HARRISONBURG, Va. - Freshman guard Terell Strickland hit a corner three-pointer with 1:16 to play to put the finishing touches on James Madison's wire-to-wire, 73-64 win over Drexel in Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball action on Sunday afternoon.

Strickland's trey was the only long-range make of the second half for the Dukes (9-5, 4-1 CAA), but it sealed a victory that saw JMU lead by 17 in the first half before Drexel (7-6, 2-4 CAA) closed the gap to single digits for almost the entire second period.

The basket gave Strickland 11 points for the second straight game, while senior Matt Lewis and junior Vado Morse paced a balanced scoring attack with 15 points each. Sophomore forward Julien Wooden added 11 points of his own to go with a game- and season-high seven boards.

Lewis packed his stat line again, battling his way to six assists, a season-high five steals and four rebounds along the way.

The Dukes roared out of the gates, racing out to early leads of 15-4, 24-11 and 33-16 before Drexel ripped off 16 straight points to cut the lead to 33-32 just before halftime. JMU would score the final six points to take a 39-32 advantage into the break.

The teams battled back and forth throughout the second half, with Drexel never tying the game, but not falling behind by more than nine until the final seconds.

The Dragons cut the lead to 64-60 with a pair of free throws at the 3:42 mark, then neither team scored a point until Morse hit Strickland with a cutting pass and the freshman drilled the dagger from the left corner.

After a JMU timeout, freshman Justin Amadi would elevate to block a Drexel floater on the next possession, grabbed the rebound and allowed the Dukes to close the game out at the free throw line.

Junior guard Camren Wynter carried the Dragons, racking up 29 points and six rebounds in the loss, while JMU held senior forward James Butler to just six points and six boards.

QUOTING COACH BYINGTON
"I love wins like that. I thought the first three or four minutes of the game, we looked like the Lakers, then for the next little while, we looked like the Bad News Bears. Both teams were tired today and we sometimes looked fatigued, but I liked the way the guys stuck with it and we made some really big plays down the stretch to pick up a win."

QUICK HITS
- In addition to his shot, Strickland picked up his 25th steal of the season, putting him just six steals outside the Freshman Top 10 in program history.
- Sophomore Julien Wooden led the Dukes in rebounding, making him the eighth different JMU player to lead the team this season.
- With the balance in scoring, senior Matt Lewis did not need to make a three-pointer, breaking a streak of 50 consecutive games with at least one that dated back to February of his sophomore year.
- The Dukes are now 5-1 in games played on Sunday and 7-2 in home games.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will remain at home for the second of three straight in Harrisonburg, welcoming Elon to the Atlantic Union Bank Center for a 4 p.m. matchup on Wednesday, Feb. 3. The Phoenix dropped a pair of matchups at Delaware this weekend in their first action since Jan. 3, falling to 3-5 (0-4 CAA) on the season.