JMU Edges Drexel, 75-73

Saturday, January 20

Harrisonburg, Va.

4 p.m.

Drexel University

7-14, 1-7CAA

James Madison

6-15, 2-6CAA

Drexel

James Madison

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

1/20/2018 6:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Harrisonburg, Va. – Troy Harper's half-court shot as time expired hit the back of the rim and James Madison escaped with a 75-73 win. Tramaine Isabell had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Drexel, while Harper added 14. The Dragons fell to 7-14 and 1-7 in CAA play while the Dukes won moved to 2-6 in league play and 6-15 overall.

In a game that featured 20 lead changes and 17 ties, neither team was able to take more than a five-point lead the entire night. JMU went ahead at the 13:45 mark and held that lead until the Dragons tied it on a Harper jumper with 2:51 to go.

With the score tied at 71 and less than a minute to play, Harper fed Sammy Mojica for what appeared to be the go-ahead bucket. However, Harper was called for the charge, giving JMU the ball. The Dukes took advantage of the opportunity as Matt Lewis scored with just 28 seconds to go to give JMU the lead. Drexel missed a shot, but got the ball back as it went out of bounds off a JMU player. The Dragons called a timeout and on the inbound, Mojica's three-pointer came up short.

Drexel fouled and sent Lewis to the line where he sank a pair, putting JMU ahead by four. Kurk Lee cut the lead in half, but JMU was able to get the ball inbounds and kill some of the remaining clock. With just 2.6 seconds to play, Dariur Banks was sent to the line. He missed both free throws, giving the Drexel faithful hope. Harper grabbed the rebound, dribbled just shy of midcourt and fired a desperation attempt towards the rim. The shot just clanged off the back of the rim and the Dragons suffered their fifth-straight defeat.

Isabell picked up his fourth double-double of the season. The junior was just 5-for-14 shooting, but did make nine of his 10 points from the line. Harper had three assists to go along with his 14 points. Alihan Demir was in double figures again. The sophomore scored 13 points and handed out five assists. Mojica chipped in with 12 points and had three three-pointers. Drexel played shorthanded down the stretch as both Austin Williams and Tyshawn Myles fouled out midway through the second half.

Matt Lewis led the Dukes with 20 points. The Dragons defense did a nice job holding Stuckey Mosley, the Dukes leading scorer in check. Mosley scored 13 points but was held to 4-for-17 shooting. Develle Phillips missed just one of his seven shots and finished with 12 points.

The Dragons played a solid first half and led by a score of 37-34 at intermission. Drexel had a balanced scoring attack as seven players had at least one basket. Alihan Demir scored nine in the half, while Mojica, Isabell and Harper each scored seven points. The Dragons shot 12-for-26 in the half and could have had a little larger lead but the Dukes pounded the offensive glass. JMU grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in the half, which led to 10 points. Drexel had a five-point lead after Isabell made one of two free throws with seven seconds to go, but Mosley drove the length of the court and scored as the buzzer sounded as the Dukes cut the lead to three.

The Dragons head home where they will play their next three games and four of the next five. That stretch begins on Homecoming Weekend when Elon visits the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Drexel will then face Northeastern on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.