The Upset That Almost Was

Brady is my hero...homeboy...whatever other slogan you want to insert in there. Juwann and Andrey were both out for this game. Devon Moore, our staring point guard, had the flu and was running a fever of over 100. The cards were stacked against us. Even after the big win over Mason on Saturday, I counted us out of this game and was just praying for it not to be a blowout like we've experienced in past years. Insert first-year JMU head coach Matt Brady (my overwhelming vote for CAA Coach of the Year). His philosophy the whole time has been that injuries are not an excuse and that we are still in every game we play, no matter what. So here we go into an away game against the #2 team in the conference with 2 main players out, another player sick.

This game was surprising from the very start. Even against very mediocre opponents, JMU has not started strong out of the gates. Against VCU, they came ready to play. Not only play, but play well and keep it close. In the first 11 minutes, there were 9 lead changes. After 11 minutes and 43 seconds, we went ahead 20-19 on a layup by Dazz and stayed up for a long time. It helped that Sanders, the VCU starting center, was called for two quick fouls putting him on the bench early. The first half, you have to give credit to Dazz Thorton. While he may have had some travel calls, he made a lot of plays to help put the Dukes ahead. It also helped that Eric Maynor, VCU's star player, got a technical for arguing with the refs about a couple petty travel calls (and he is the class of the CAA?) so he sat on the bench much of the first half. After Dazz gave us the lead, Maynor took the ball down the floor. At this point Ratner got a nice steal and took it down the court and gets the layup for two points -his only two of the game. As the final minutes of the first half wound down, the momentum started to shift toward VCU and they battled back to within two. As the buzzer went off to end the first period, the score was 30-28.

VCU kept their momentum as the second half started and quickly tied the game, then took a lead. The Rams, aided by a few missed shots, a turnover, and a foul, would advance their lead up to six - the largest lead of the night. JMU needed to have someone step up and hit some shots. Why shouldn't this be one of Brady's star freshmen. The only one at 100% for this game was Julius Wells, and this is where he decided to take over. Julius at this point started getting fed the ball, dodging around defenders, and would hit 3 shots from behind the arc in a row that put the Dukes up by one. Then the VCU players went on a 7-0 run of their own, putting them back up on top by six and tying their largest lead of the night. With some good decisions by the Dukes, they were able to pull back up to go up by one with 5:24 left in the game. The next few minutes were a pure battle by both teams. The Dukes would lead by as much as 4 points in this period, but they were wearing down as many of the players playing at this point had been in for a majority of the game. With time ticking down, JMU could not seem to get an open shot and got a shot clock violation turning the ball over to the Rams with 14 seconds left. The Dukes played good enough defense to hold VCU up as they drove down the court and they called a timeout. With 6.7 seconds left, VCU goes to inbound the ball. Devon Moore apparently fouled Eric Maynor and Maynor gets 2 free throws...with no time running off the clock. Maynor, who is usually clutch at the end of games, knocks down both of the FT's to tie the game up. So with 6.7 seconds left, JMU gets the ball and they inbound it to Pierre. He drives down and goes up for the shot. He had his arm covering the ball and as he's jumping, VCU's Sanders grabs Pierre's arm, but no foul was called...it seems the rule of verticality doesn't apply when it decides the outcome of games. And the game is sent in to overtime.

At this point, even though the Dukes are gassed, Coach Brady keeps the same solid five guys in because they are our most consistent players. This is when the VCU players got hot (great timing, right?). Maynor, followed by Joey Rodriguez, and lastly Burgess all nail 3's. JMU couldn't keep up and missed too many shots. MVP for JMU goes to Julius wells who went 7-16 (3pt: 4-8) for 20 points, grabbed 11 defensive rebounds and went 2-2 for FT's. Dazz had an outstanding first half, though didn't play much the second half, going 6-10 for 12 points, had 7 rebounds and one assist. Devon, even when playing sick, had a great game. He scored 13 points going 3-7 (0-3) and 7-8 from the free throw line, had 4 rebounds and also dished out a team high 3 assists. Ben Louis also had a solid game going 5-8 (1-1 from behind the arc), grabbing 4 rebounds, had 2 assists and had 2 steals (great game on defense for Ben). Pierre and Matt Parker also had good games and played a combined 67 minutes. Kyle seemed to be having a down night, but hopefully he can turn that around for our upcoming games.

The Dukes ended up losing 76-71, but had a very strong performance and gave VCU quite a scare. We also had a great contingent of JMU fans there in Richmond to show their support. The team definitely showed some promise and the entire team is playing with tons of heart. The Dukes are playing hard from top to bottom and Brady is getting solid contributions from everyone. Come tournament time, having all players getting this much playing time will pay large dividends. At this point, I don't envy any team who has to play JMU as they have shown they can compete against any team in the CAA and aren't giving up in any game no matter what the circumstances. Unfortunately, it seems the Dukes will have to win out the rest of the regular season to get a #4 seed and first-round bye, but that isn't out of the question. There is no doubt now that the VCU game in Harrisonburg will be HUGE for both teams.

Box Score | DNR: VCU Nips JMU in OT
Photos (VCU focus, feature photo courtesy of John Tatum)