The Northeastern men's basketball team held a 24-9 lead in the first half, but James Madison answered back with a strong second half and edged the Huskies 68-65 in the CAA opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Matthews Arena.
Northeastern jumped out to a quick start in the game. After being tied at 4-4 with just 2:20 having gone by in the game, the Huskies went on a 20-5 run that lasted 7:38 and included seven points by junior Chris Alvarez, who had 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in the contest. The Huskies led 24-9 with 10:02 remaining in the first half.
The Dukes (5-1, 1-0 CAA) clawed back and tied the game at 2:46 when Abdulai Jalloh nailed a three-pointer on a dish from Pierre Curtis to even the score at 32-32.
The Huskies capitalized on three JMU turnovers in the final two minutes and baskets by junior Matt Smith and freshman Chaisson Allen to take a 36-32 lead into the locker room at halftime.
With 16:08 left in the second half, James Madison took its first lead of the game when Juwann James hit a layup off a Curtis missed jumper to give the Dukes a 43-42 advantage. That was part of a 23-9 JMU run to open the second frame and it ended with Dazzmond Thornton's jumper at 10:15 to give the Dukes a double-digit lead, 55-45. During that run, the Huskies turned the ball over six times.
The Huskies (2-4, 0-1 CAA) fought back valiantly, tying the game at 57-57 with just over five minutes left on the clock, but the Dukes came out on top as Pierre sank a three with 1:48 left to give JMU a two-possession lead at 62-58 and Terrance Carter hit four free throws in the final 25 seconds to seal the game.
Ultimately, James Madison won the game on 19 forced turnovers that led to 14 points. The Huskies struggled from the free throw line making only 14 of their 26 shots from the charity stripe.
Curtis had a game-high 19 points for JMU. He added nine rebounds and five assists. Smith and Alvarez led the Huskies with 12 points. Sophomore Manny Adako added 11 points and eight rebounds. Allen scored eight points, dished out five assists and stole the ball four times.
The Huskies have a quick turnaround as they travel to Durham, N.H. for a Monday night contest at New Hampshire at 7 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
JMU vs Northeastern
12/1/07 1 p.m. at Matthews Arena (Boston, MA)
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VISITORS: JMU 5-1, 1-0 CAA
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Swanston, Kyle...... f 4-8 1-4 0-0 1 2 3 2 9 1 0 1 0 29
10 Jalloh, Abdulai..... f 3-12 2-5 3-4 0 3 3 4 11 1 4 0 1 23
34 Carter, Terrance.... f 4-14 0-3 4-5 3 4 7 4 12 2 1 0 3 35
33 James, Juwann....... g 3-11 0-0 0-1 2 4 6 4 6 1 0 2 2 29
51 Curtis, Pierre...... g 8-17 2-2 1-2 1 8 9 2 19 5 3 1 0 34
03 Posey, Joe.......... 0-3 0-1 0-0 2 1 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 7
04 Ratner, Heiden...... 2-3 1-1 0-0 1 2 3 3 5 2 3 0 2 26
14 Louis, Ben.......... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
55 Thornton, Dazzmond.. 3-4 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 3 6 0 1 0 0 14
TEAM................ 5 5
Totals.............. 27-74 6-16 8-12 17 25 42 23 68 13 12 4 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-38 34.2% 2nd Half: 14-36 38.9% Game: 36.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 37.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 4-5 80.0% Game: 66.7% 2,1
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 2-4, 0-1 CAA
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
20 Smith, Matt......... f 5-9 2-3 0-2 1 2 3 0 12 1 1 1 1 17
32 Adako, Manny........ f 3-4 0-0 5-9 1 7 8 4 11 0 3 1 0 25
54 Ojougboh, Nkem...... c 3-5 0-0 0-3 1 6 7 2 6 0 1 1 1 31
03 Allen, Chaisson..... g 3-11 0-2 2-3 1 1 2 0 8 5 5 1 4 37
23 Janning, Matt....... g 2-7 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 2 4 3 4 0 0 27
02 Alvarez, Chris...... 3-5 0-1 6-7 1 8 9 2 12 1 2 2 1 25
10 Gunterberg, Johan... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 8
24 Spates, Eugene...... 3-5 2-3 1-2 1 0 1 4 9 0 1 0 1 14
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 0-3 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 3
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 1 1 0 1 13
TEAM................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 23-51 5-13 14-26 8 32 40 17 65 12 19 6 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8% 2nd Half: 9-25 36.0% Game: 45.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 38.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 10-17 58.8% Game: 53.8% 6
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Officials: Jose A. Carrion, Tony Dawkins, Ron Groover
Technical fouls: JMU-Carter, Terrance. Northeastern-Adako, Manny.
Attendance: 1812
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
JMU........................... 32 36 - 68
Northeastern.................. 36 29 - 65
Points in the paint-JMU 32,NU 32. Points off turnovers-JMU 14,NU 8.
2nd chance points-JMU 18,NU 9. Fast break points-JMU 8,NU 6.
Bench points-JMU 11,NU 24. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-JMU 2nd-00:40, NU 2nd-00:03.
