CONWAY, S.C. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison men’s basketball picked up its fourth straight win on Wednesday night, coming away with a 67-65 win over the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at the HTC Center.
Cliff Davis led JMU 15-13 (7-8 Sun Belt) with 22 points for his fifth 20-point game of the season. Joshua Beadle scored 31 points to lead Coastal Carolina (16-12, 8-7 Sun Belt), but missed a free throw with 0.4 seconds left to help the Dukes come away with the win.
Davis’ five threes vaulted him to sixth on the JMU single-season threes list, as the guard now has 89 triples this season.
The Dukes outscored Coastal 40-16 in the paint, with Gabe Newhof (9) and Eddie Ricks III (8) leading the charge.
In addition to Beadle’s 31, only one other Chanticleer finished with 10 or more points, as RaSheed Jones finished with 10 points.
How It Happened
First Half: James Madison 32, Coastal Carolina 32
• It was back-and-forth early before Kose Egbule gave the Dukes an 18-14 lead on a three-point jumper.
• A three-pointer gave Coastal the lead back, with the Chants holding a 24-21 advantage with 7:57 left.
• A tip-in from Christian Brown put JMU ahead 32-27, but CCU scored five in a row as the teams went into the locker room tied.
Second Half:
• A 6-0 run for JMU put the Dukes up 40-39 with 16:45 left.
• JMU took an eight-point lead (50-42), but Coastal used a 13-0 run to swing momentum and go ahead 55-50 at the 8:24 mark.
• The Dukes trailed by as many as five (59-54) but battled back to take a 62-61 lead on a Davis triple.
• Beadle hit a pair of free throws to trim CCU’s deficit to 66-65, but Egbule converted at the line to put JMU ahead 67-65.
• Beadle could not convert at the line on the other end, as the Dukes came away with the win.
Game Notes
• JMU improved to 8-0 against Coastal Carolina.
• Christian Brown recorded one block, bringing his season total to 43. He is now four away from tying Andre Nation’s JMU freshman block record.
• Davis scored in double figures for the 21st time this season and the fifth time with 20 or more. He also tied a season-high six rebounds.
• Davis became the second JMU player since 2004-05 (Kyle Swanston, 2008-09) with seven or more games of five threes.
• JMU improved to 4-10 in road games this season.
— JMU Athletics —
