JMU roundup: Dukes top UNC Greensboro in men's hoops

Daily Staff Reports - sports@nvdaily.com

James Madison University built a 20-point halftime lead and withstood UNC Greensboro's rally to within three in the second half to record an 85-73 victory in a non-conference men's basketball game on Sunday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center.

JMU won for the third time in four games to improve to 4-6 overall while finishing a five-game home stand. UNCG, which hadn't played in 15 days, fell to 2-6.

Redshirt senior guard Devon Moore turned in one of his best career all-around performances, matching his career high with 22 points while adding nine rebounds, a season-high seven assists and three steals.

While Moore was dominating the backcourt, redshirt senior forward Rayshawn Goins was having his way in the frontcourt with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds. Combined, Moore and Goins went 18-for-29 from the floor (62 percent).

JMU grabbed the lead from the start. Leading 11-9, the Dukes embarked upon a 10-0 run as part of an overall 15-3 streak to earn a 26-12 advantage. The Spartans never got closer than nine the rest of the half as the Dukes continued to apply pressure. The Dukes took their largest lead of the half into the break with a 49-29 advantage.

UNCG looked like a different team out of the locker room. With a burst of energy, the Spartans reeled off a quick 15-3 run to crawl back into the game. They continued to cut the margin to five at 60-55 while shooting 10-for-14 from the field to open the half.

UNCG got as close as three points, trailing 66-63 with 6:23 to go when Goins hit a post-up layup and redshirt senior forward Andrey Semenov hit a dunk from Moore to extend the lead to seven. From there, the Dukes went 10-for-12 at the foul line in the final two minutes to seal the 12-point victory.

The Dukes had four players in double figures with Moore and Goins joined by Semenov and freshman guard Ron Curry. Semenov had 14 points while Curry added a career-high 13 points and six assists.

After five straight games at home, JMU plays its next five away from the Convo, beginning with the Vegas Holiday Hoops event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Dukes face San Jose State on Saturday (Dec. 22) at 11:30 p.m. followed by a 6:30 p.m. game on Sunday against San Diego.

Women's basketball
Duquesne (9-1) held off James Madison (3-6) in the closing minutes and escaped with a 62-57 win Sunday afternoon at the Palumbo Center.

Duquesne led by as many as 18 points (34-16 at 0:23 of the 1st half), but had to withstand a furious JMU rally in the final minutes to pull out the win.

Duquesne, which is receiving votes in the Top 25, posted its eighth straight victory. JMU dropped its third straight game, a first for the program since the 2007-08 season.

JMU was down by double digits for most of the second half and trailed by 13, 60-47, after a jumper by Duquesne's Jocelyn Floyd with 3:14 left.

JMU scored the game's next 10 points in a span of 1:46 while Duquesne missed shots on four consecutive possessions and then turned the ball over while being pressured by JMU senior guard Tarik Hislop.

The 10 points came from Hislop, who hit a 3-pointer and a foul shot, redshirt senior guard Jasmine Gill, who was 4-for-4 at the foul line, and junior guard Kirby Burkholder, who converted two free throws to close the margin to 60-57 with 44 seconds left.

After Duquesne's Wumi Agunbiade missed the front end of a 1 and 1 free throw with 25.2 seconds remaining, JMU got possession, but Hislop missed a contested 3-pointer with 15 seconds to go. With JMU forced to foul, April Robinson put the game away with two free throws with 8.8 on the clock.

JMU was led by Gill, who scored a season-high 16 points and hit a career-high 14 free throws. She was 14-for-16 at the foul line and grabbed six rebounds.

Burkholder added 15 points and team highs of eight rebounds and three steals, and Hislop finished with 13 points.