Box Score
HARRISONBURG, Va. — Pierre Curtis led five James Madison players in double figures with 17 points, and the host Dukes overcame a scintillating double-double by Norfolk State guard Michael Deloach (Rocky Mount, N.C.) to turn back the Spartans 72-64 on Wednesday night at the JMU Convocation Center.
Julius Wells added 14 points, Darren White and Andrey Semenov 12 each and Trevon Flores 11 for the Dukes (4-2), who sent the Spartans (1-6) to their fifth straight loss. Deloach scored 25 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds for his second career double-double to pace the Spartans.
Both teams started slowly, missing 15 of their first 18 shots. JMU endured a field goal drought of six minutes and NSU a scoreless stretch of more than five minutes. Neither team led by more than six points in the first half.
Deloach gave NSU its first lead at 23-22 by sinking two free throws with 2:44 left in the first half. Rob Hampton (Queens, N.Y.) then hit a jumper on the Spartans' next possession to stretch the lead to three. But the Dukes scored the next eight points, capped by Curtis' three-point play, to take a 30-25 lead. Spartan forward Kyle O'Quinn (Jamaica, N.Y.) hit a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left before the break to bring NSU within two headed into the half.
Deloach canned a 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half to give the Spartans a short-lived 31-30 edge. But once again, JMU went on an 8-0 spurt to claim a 38-31 advantage.
Curtis provided the Dukes with their first double-digit lead at 55-45 on a layup with 9:30 left in the game. But NSU had one more run left. Hampton hit a 3-pointer, then Deloach scored five straight points on a pair of field goals in an 8-2 burst that cut JMU's lead to 60-55 with 4:32 remaining.
But the Dukes proved to be too much, scoring the next 10 points to put the game out of NSU's reach. Flores ended the run with a slam dunk off a Ben Louis pass with just 1:42 left in the game.
Deloach finished the game 8-of-17 from the floor, 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and 6-of-7 from the line. All 12 of his boards came on the defensive end as he recorded his first double-double of the season. He added three assists and a pair of steals.
Hampton scored in double figures for the sixth straight game, with 14 points. O'Quinn added 11 points and six rebounds for the Spartans.
Wells had a team-high eight rebounds for JMU, which shot 45.5 percent from the floor in the second half after a 32-percent effort in the first stanza. The Dukes also committed just eight turnovers compared to NSU's 17.
NSU returns home for its next contest, the MEAC opener against North Carolina A&T this Saturday at 6 p.m.
