Picture courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications
By Daniel Merriman
JMU males's basketball (24-Three, 11-Three SBC) defeated Georgia Southern (5-22, 5-9 SBC) in an in depth contest on Saturday, successful 87-80. JMU (24-Three,11-Three SBC). The Eagles didn't go away, hitting very onerous all night time. Regardless, the Dukes weathered the storm by making clutch hits and strong protection.
The Dukes end their common season with a 14-1 house file, shedding solely to App State contained in the Atlantic Union Financial institution Heart. Additionally they tied the file for many common season wins in class historical past with 4 video games left within the season. Right here's what I took away from this Senior Night time journey.
JMU's offense received off to an extremely gradual begin within the first half, with the Dukes capturing a pedestrian 32% from the sphere and Zero-7 from three-point vary. Good power and free kicking (beforehand an space of inconsistency for the Dukes) saved them on this sport for the primary 20 minutes.
Within the second half, each groups have been scorching offensively, even with heavy defensive strain. James Madison compelled Georgia Southern into some extremely powerful photographs. Nonetheless, the Eagles made 64 % of their photographs within the second half.
Terrence Edwards shined on his senior night time, scoring 19 factors on Four-6 capturing from Three. TJ Bickerstaff additionally added 16 factors. With their performances, the Dukes have been in a position to stand up to Georgia Southern's fixed offensive assault and have been in a position to come away with key performs within the second half.
Whereas the Eagles' file is subpar, they’re within the prime half of the Solar Belt by way of offensive effectivity in league video games, in keeping with KenPom.
Raekwon Horton's steal, save and timeout mixture within the second half involves thoughts as a turning level within the sport. The important thing defensive play helped generate momentum and even earned an brisk excessive 5 from head coach Mark Byington.
“For me, that was the sport … Raekwon's sport right now was large,” Byington stated.
The Dukes ended the yr with a mean of 5,280 folks per contest held at AUBC. This represents a 23% improve over final yr's participation.
This program is properly positioned for future fan engagement, having the 2nd and third most attended video games in AUBC historical past this yr. The one place greater than the Radford and App State contests was when UVA got here to city in 2021.
There would be the common questions this offseason concerning roster building (the Dukes might be lacking some key contributors). Holding Mark Byington may be a problem relying on how the Dukes end the season, however the future is extremely vivid for JMU males's basketball the remainder of this season and past.
Editor's Be aware: Because of Three Notch'd Brewing for promoting assist.
The depth of this JMU workforce is staggering for the mid-major stage. JMU has the power to go 9 deep at any time when wanted. Every key contributor coming off the bench does various things for JMU.
Jaylen Carey offers an inside presence and high quality play on the 5. Bryant Randleman is a strong defensive combo, capturing a career-high 42.9% from deep (on extremely restricted quantity).
Final however not least, Horton is without doubt one of the finest position gamers in mid-level basketball. He leads the workforce in steals and is a succesful shooter from Three (32.1%). Horton is a superb rebounder for his place and likewise an exceptional defender. His effectiveness has been key to this workforce's success all yr.
“Raekwon is by far among the best position gamers within the nation,” Edwards stated. “We received him off the bench, which makes our workforce 10 instances higher.”
JMU performs its closing 4 contests on the highway to complete this season. JMU might be battle-tested after having to play six impartial and highway video games in a row earlier than a doable SBC championship sport. Nonetheless, JMU gamers have thrived on the highway all through this yr.
“We would like it,” Julien Wood stated. “We prefer to play on the highway.”
Xavier Brown echoed these ideas.
“We get more durable on the highway,” Brown stated. “Everyone's screaming… We're hugging him.”
JMU faces Marshall, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Coastal Carolina earlier than heading to Pensacola, Florida for the Solar Belt Championship. The Dukes are at present tied for second within the convention standings and are properly positioned to be a prime Four seed within the event.