By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, News Correspondent
First half woes finally caught up with the Huskies in Monday’s CAA tournament final as James Madison University downed Northeastern, 70-57.
The Dukes were propelled to the victory by a 40-18 first half lead just a day after the Huskies allowed George Mason University to go up by 24 in the first.
“I thought we were going to have a little different results from yesterday but all of the sudden you look up and it’s déjà vu all over
again,” coach Bill Coen said.
Much of the credit for JMU’s success went to the 25-year-old A.J. Davis. The red shirt senior had 26 points on 8-13 shooting, 17 of them coming in the first half.
“They had the urgency of seniors,” Coen said. “They have six [seniors] on the club and they knew what time it was tonight and they came to play and A.J. Davis and [Rayshawn] Goins played a terrific basketball game.”
Goins was the second leading scorer for JMU with 14 points, 13 of them coming in the first half.
However, just like in the GMU game, the Huskies would rally in the second half. After Davis hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to make it 48-28 with 13:43 left in the game, sophomore Marco Banegas-Flores hit his fellow sophomore Reggie Spencer for an open layup.
Both teams remained deadlocked for the next two minutes until sophomore Demetrius Pollard forced a steal on freshman Ron Curry and connected on a layup in transition.
The Huskies kept the run going with Jon Lee, David Walker and Derrico Peck each connecting on field goals. Freshman Derrico Peck, as well as Banegas-Flores, had a career-high on the night with 10 points.
With JMU leading 51-39 and 9:16 left in the game, Lee drove up the court and connected on a pull-up jumper, instilling hope in the
outnumbered Northeastern fans.
“Being behind we got to play a little bit faster,” Lee said. “That was the mindset just push the pace, push the tempo and I was able to get some looks.”
All of Lee’s team-leading 14 points came in the second half.
Following a JMU timeout, Peck proved his worth once again with a tip-in over the much bigger JMU front court, making it just an 8-point game.
However, just as the Huskies looked like they were going to make another historic comeback, one play turned all the momentum to the Dukes.
Senior co-captain Joel Smith committed his fifth foul on freshman sensation Andre Nation from the right corner of the 3-point line.
“I thought if we could’ve got a stop on that possession that would have been critical but the worst possible thing happened, we fouled on a three-pointer and we lost a guy who would be vital in our comeback,” Coen said.
After the three made free throws by Nation, JMU quickly pushed the lead back to 14 and held the lead to double-digits until the final
buzzer rang and a sea of purple and white covered the Richmond Coliseum court.
While the Huskies came up short of their final goal, the coach of the CAA regular season champions did not hesitate to express his pride for the Huskies.
“We’re disappointed tonight but we know there’s more basketball left in the season and this team has accomplished great, great things and I think it’s a tribute to the character of the kids in that locker room,” Coen said.
The Huskies will move on to play in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
