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Quick Report: James Madison 70, Drexel 64

02/23/2017, 9:30pm EST
By Graham Foley

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Graham Foley (@graham_foley3)

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James Madison spoiled Drexel’s senior night by knocking off the Dragons 70-64 Thursday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

At First…
The Dukes and Dragons went back and forth in a low-scoring first half. Drexel led by as many as six, 17-11 with 10:45 left in the half. James Madison took its first lead 23-22 with 5:31 left in the first half and closed the half by outscoring Drexel 13-7. JMU senior forward Ivan Lukic ended the half with a buzzer-beating jumper after an inbound pass with 1.1 seconds on the clock to make the score 32-29.

The second half began with back-to-back 3-point shots from Drexel’s freshman guard Kurk Lee and junior guard Sammy Mojica. The Dragons and Dukes went back a forth before Mojica, with the shot clock winding down, hit a 3-point shot at the buzzer to give Drexel a 50-43 lead with 10 minutes left. The 7-point lead was Drexel’s largest of the game. James Madison responded with a 9-3 run ending with a 3-pointer from Dimitrije Cabarkapa. The Dukes’ lead increased to 64-57 with 1:44 left.

With 1:15 remaining, Drexel senior Rodney Williams hit a long jumper to make the score 64-59. James Madison followed with two free throws to increase its lead to 66-59. On the following possession for Drexel, Mojica hit a 3-pointer to pull the Dragons within four with 32 seconds left.

Turning Point…
The Dukes followed Mojica’s 3-point shot by hitting two free throws with 27 seconds left to make the score 68-62. Drexel then committed a costly backcourt violation giving the ball right back to James Madison with 19 seconds left and a six point lead. The Dukes hit two more free throws and won the game 70-64.

Standout Stars…
Lee, a freshman guard, started the first four minutes of the game on the bench in favor of seniors on senior night. When he came in, he knocked down two 3-point shots in a row and finished the half a perfect 4-of-4 from the field with 11 pts. He finished the game with 18 points adding another 3-pointer in the second half. Mojica, a junior matched Lee with 18 pts of his own, half of which came in the second half. He finished 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from the beyond the arc. His 3-pointer with 32 seconds left kept the Dragons alive in the game.  

James Madison forward Tom Vodanovich led all scorers in the first half with 15 pts. He was 6-of-8 from the field and a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. He played very little in the second half and finished with 15 pts. Senior guard Jackson Kent led the Dukes with 16 pts shooting 6-of-11 from the field. His perfect 4-of-4 from the line down the stretch helped James Madison seal the victory.

Noteworthy Number(s)...
7: 
Tonight’s win was the seventh straight for James Madison against Drexel and third straight in Philadelphia. The Dragons, however, still lead the all-time series 18-12. The win was also the Dukes’ seventh conference victory of the season with seven of their nine total victories in the year coming in conference play.

5: Drexel’s five seniors, John Moran, Rodney Williams, Elgin Ford, Mohamed Bah, and Major Canady all started for the Dragons on senior night.

10: Drexel as a team hit 10 3-point shots in the loss. Four of the shots came from Lee and four came from Mojica. The most the Dragons hit in a game this season was 13 against Elon on Jan. 19.

Up Next….
Drexel (9-21, 3-14) at Charleston (21-8) -- Sat., Feb. 25, 5:00 PM
James Madison (9-21, 7-10) vs Hofstra (13-16) -- . Sat., Feb. 25, 12:00 PM

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