Dukes Lose on Last Second Shot

From the Breeze...

The JMU men's basketball team opened its Colonial Athletic Association schedule on Saturday with a heartbreaking 64-63 loss at the hands of the Georgia State Panthers in Atlanta.

JMU (6-2, 0-1 in the CAA) took a 63-62 lead with 3.5 seconds left in the game after redshirt sophomore guard Devon Moore made one of his two free throws. On the ensuing possession, GSU redshirt junior guard Jihad Ali recovered a loose ball and laid the ball in as time expired, giving the Panthers the win.

The loss snaps JMU's six game winning streak, the program's longest since 1994. The final basket was somewhat unlucky for JMU, as the Dukes' redshirt sophomore forward Andrey Semenov blocked a Panther's shot with one second left, knocking the ball straight to Ali for the easy basket.

JMU had led 62-58 but was nearly held scoreless for the final three minutes of the game. The team had its worst shooting performance of the year, going 31 percent from the field while GSU shot 45 percent.

JMU senior forward Denzel Bowles had a game high 21 points and 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double on the season. Junior forward Julius Wells added 15 points for the Dukes while junior forward Rayshawn Goins had nine points and 12 rebounds.

For Georgia State, Brandon McGee and Josh Micheaux had 15 and 12 points respectively. Ali had eight points and 10 rebounds.

The Dukes will play Marshall University this Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Huntington W.Va. JMU will not have another CAA matchup until Jan. 3, when the team hosts Northeastern University.

-MO