HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison men’s basketball led by as many as 16 and held off a late Marshall rally by converting free throws to snap a two-game skid and win, 67-64, inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center on Thursday night.

Down 65-61 with 2.4 seconds left, Marshall’s Jalen Speer hit a three-pointer and was fouled to cut the JMU lead to 65-64, but missed the free throw that would have tied the game. AJ Smith converted two free throws with a second left to give JMU (10-8, 3-3 SBC) the win.

Despite allowing 14 offensive rebounds and being outrebounded 42-34, the Dukes turned Marshall (10-9, 3-3 SBC) over 17 times, which led to 17 fast-break points. Xavier Brown led all Dukes with 13 points, while Bryce Lindsay added 10 points and a career-high seven rebounds.

Speer led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-11 from deep. Mikal Dawon (15), Obinnna Anochili-Killen (12), and Nate Martin (11) also scored in double figures for Marshall.

How It Happened
First Half: James Madison 39, Marshall 25
• The Thundering Herd turned the ball over nine times in the first 11:10 as JMU led 18-11 with 8:50 left in the half.
• Despite being outrebounded 24-20 – including 12 offensive rebounds – the Dukes held Marshall to 8-of-36 (.222) from the field in the first half and only allowed five second-chance points.
• JMU shot 47 percent from the field (15-of-32) in the first half, taking a 14-point lead into the break. Marshall finished with only 25 points, its second-lowest output in the first half this season.

Second Half: James Madison 67, Marshall 64
• Marshall hit four of its first five to open the second half and cut the lead to 44-37 with 15:34 left.
• JMU responded by going on an 11-4 run to make the score 53-41 with 11:45 to go.
• The Dukes led by 10 (62-52) with 5:08 left but Marshall scored nine of the next 11 points to cut the lead to 64-61.
• Jalen Speer hit a 3-pointer and was fouled with 2.4 seconds left to make the score 65-64 but missed the free throw to keep the score 65-64.
• AJ Smith sank both free throws to give the Dukes a 67-64 lead with 1.2 seconds left.

Game Notes
• JMU moved to 8-3 against Marshall in the all-time series.
• The victory is JMU’s first win when the margin is three points or less, and the second win for the Dukes when scoring under 70 points.
• Elijah Hutchins-Everett finished with 12 points, his 15th double-digit scoring output this season and 55th in his career.
• Mark Freeman grabbed a season-high three steals
• The Dukes held Marshall to 25 points and a season-low 22 percent (8-of-36) from the field in the first half.
• After finishing with 13 assists in a pair of losses last week, JMU recorded 11 assists tonight – led by Mark Freeman’s four.

— JMU Athletics —