Hofstra Slips Past Men's Hoops in Final Minutes

Sunday, January 9

Harrisonburg, Va.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

9-3,0-1CAA

Hofstra

9-6,1-1CAA

Hofstra

James Madison

1/9/2022 8:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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HARRISONBURG, Va. - James Madison battled well in its first men's basketball game in nearly a month on Sunday evening, but couldn't fight off a late charge from Hofstra, dropping an 87-80 decision to the Pride at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

The Dukes (9-3, 0-1) were hot from the field, hitting at a 52.7% clip (29-55) on the evening, but Hofstra (9-6, 1-1) used an 8-0 run across the final 3:45 to come out on top of a back-and-forth contest that had a remarkable 23 lead changes.

Redshirt junior guard Vado Morse led the way on offense, racking up 24 points in a return to form that led four Dukes in double figures. Graduate student Takal Molson (16 points), redshirt freshman Terell Strickland (12) and redshirt sophomore Julien Wooden (10) all joined Morse.

Junior guard Aaron Estrada led the Pride in scoring with 20 points, while redshirt senior forward Abayomi Iyiola erupted for 15 points and 15 boards in the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The Dukes sprinted out of the gate, scoring the first seven points of the contest in less than 70 seconds, but Hofstra responded to tie things up at 9-9 in short order, starting a series of back-and-forth possessions through the opening half.

JMU later pulled back ahead, taking multiple eight-point leads, but the Pride used a 10-3 burst at the end of the period to cut the Dukes' lead to 44-43 heading into the break.

Second Half
Hofstra came out hot in the second half, knocking down a pair of early three-pointers and taking a five-point lead before the Dukes used nine straight points to go up 55-51 with 16:58 to play.

After a bucket from the Pride, neither team would lead by more than three points until the final three minutes of the contest.

Molson gave JMU an 80-79 lead on a three-point play under the basket, but Hofstra would close out the contest with a layup and a 6-of-6 performance at the free throw line, despite a steal and a block for the Dukes in the final two minutes.

QUICK HITS
- The Dukes used their four different starting lineup of the season on Sunday.
- Sunday marked JMU's first loss at home in 2021-22.
- Strickland's 12 points on the night marked his most since scoring 15 against Elon on Feb. 3, 2021.
- Strickland also became the ninth different JMU player to score in double figures this season.

UP NEXT
The Dukes turn around and get right back to action on Tuesday, Jan. 11, welcoming Northeastern to Harrisonburg for a 7 p.m. matchup. On Sunday, the Huskies dropped a 70-67 decision at Towson that dropped them to 6-8, with an 0-3 mark in league play.