HARRISONBURG, Va. – After taking a five-point lead with under five minutes left in the contest, North Carolina Central couldn't stop James Madison's final run as the Dukes defeated the Eagles 67-62 on Wednesday evening at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.
NCCU (3-7) was led by Gage Lattimore and Dionte Johnson, the only double figure scorers wearing maroon and gray. Lattimore netted 29 points on 41.6 percent shooting. Johnson was 4-of-7 from the field, a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and knocked down two threes for a new season-high of 16 points.
In the first half, NC Central looked to pressure the JMU guards as they were without point guard, Bradley Douglas. The Eagles stayed steady, gaining an early 6-4 lead in two minutes of action, as the Dukes would retake the lead for the rest of the half.
NCCU kept the game within single digits for majority of the first 20 minutes as James Madison would extend it to 11 to close the half up 35-24.
Both squads were evenly matched in most statistical categories, with the same number of turnovers and making 10 field goals each. The difference in the first twenty minutes was JMU's six made threes, while the Eagles didn't make any on nine attempts.
Lattimore scored the first eight points for NCCU to open the second half, including the first shot from beyond the arc for the Eagles.
Defense helped the Maroon and Gray cut into the lead as Kelechi Okworogwo stepped in the post for Khouri Carvey who was in foul trouble. Okworogwo cleaned up the glass with a game-high 12 rebounds. Johnson got into passing lanes for two straight steals, leading to fastbreak points.
The Eagles found themselves down by one after an 8-0 run as JMU had the 41-40 advantage. The Dukes stretched the lead, but the Eagles cut it back to one (50-49) with just over seven minutes left to play.
A pair of free throws from Johnson put the Eagles up for the first time since the first half. Two back-to-back threes from Lattimore gave NCCU the 57-52 advantage. A dunk from Okworogwo with 4:38 remaining was the last bucket for NC Central before James Madison went on a 12-0 run to retake control after costly turnovers and personal fouls put the Dukes on the free-throw line.
JMU moves to 6-4 after the non-conference victory. Justin McBride (16) and Cliff Davis (18) led the Dukes. NC Central shot better from the field (41.5 percent) than JMU (34.6 percent), but the Dukes made it count at the charity strip (22-of-32).
The Eagles host rivals North Carolina A&T on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 4 p.m. in McDougald-McLendon Arena.
For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com.
