Late Surge by CofC Falls Flat in 71-63 Loss to JMU

Cougars Rally From 10 Down Followed by 11 missed Shots

By: Jeff Walker, Sportswriter

Trailing by 10 points midway through the second half, the College of Charleston men’s basketball team tie the contest at 56 all with 6:16 left to play, only to miss 11 straight shots as James Madison outpaced them 15 to 7 for a 71-63 victory Thursday night at TD Arena. With the loss the Cougars fall to 14-11 overall and 6-7 in the CAA.

After falling flat late in the contest CofC head coach Pat Kelsey gave an honest post game assessment. “We left a lot of points on the table.” He admitted JMU set the tone overall but gave his players their due for fighting back. “Our guys turned the tide at halftime and played their butts off.”

On the flipside of the coin, it was a triumphant return for the Duke’s head coach Mark Byington who served as an assistant coach at CofC from 2006-2012 during the Bobby Cremins era. With his former boss in the stands Byington saw four of his players including one off the bench score in double figures as WMU kept the home team in check for most of the 40 minutes of play.

Ben Burnham would light up the scoreboard for the Cougars right out of the gate, but nearly three minutes into the contest JMU would hold a 10-4 lead. The Dukes held a two-possession lead for most of the first half. A layup by CofC’s Charles Lampten made it 21-19 with 7:42 still to play. James Madison would take a 34-28 advantage into the locker room.

A little more than two minutes into the second half the Dukes went up by ten (41-31) on a free throw by Alonzo Sule. That’s when the Cougars started to make their move, getting behind a 25-15 run over 10 minutes of play that saw a layup by Dimitrius Underwood tie the game at 56. The tank appeared to run dry as the home team missed five shots in the closing minutes including a couple from the free throw line as the visitors went on to victory.

The Dukes were led by Terrence Edwards who went 8 of 10 for a game best 18 points. Vado Morse (3 of 5 from long range) and Alonzo chipped in 15 apiece for JMU. Justin Amadi added 10 points for the winning team. With the victory James Madison improve to 15-11 overall and 6-9 in league play.

Underwood led the Cougars in scoring finishing with 14 points, while hauling in a game high 12 rebounds. Brenden Tucker came in off the bench to add 11 points for Charleston. Reyne Smith hit three 3-pointers for nine points. John Meeks who’s been nursing a knee injury saw limited action, held scoreless in nine minutes of play.

There were few bright spots for the Cougars. As they’ve done in many games this season, they did out rebound their opponents 49 to 43, including an incredible 24 offensive boards that lead to 18 much needed second chance points.

The Cougars host Towson on Saturday for their final home game of the season at 4 p.m. ET. A pregame ceremony honoring the senior class of Jordan Sechan, John Meeks, Dimitrius Underwood and Osinachi Smart will begin at 3:45 p.m.

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