Jan. 7, 2009
NORFOLK,VA--Juwann James scored 23 points and JMU (10-6/2-2) shot a Constant Center best.667 (28-42)from the floor to defeat Old Dominion(9-5/2-2) ,70-62 Wednesday night. It was the Dukes first ever win in the Constant Center and first win in Norfolk since 1999-2000.
JMU jumped out to a 20-point lead, 31-11 with 7:25 left in the first half. The Monarchs rallied to cut the lead to three, 37-34 at halftime. James led the Dukes with 19 first half points on eight-for-nine shooting. Overall, JMU was 16-23(.696), while the Monarchs shot .517(15-29). Gerald Lee led ODU with 13 first half points.
In the second half, ODU took its first lead of the game at 43-41 with 16:29 left on a trey by Darius James. The Monarchs led,45-43 with 16:05 left on Keyon Carter's lay up and that was the Monarchs last lead.
JMU retook the lead for good, 47-45 on James layup with 15:13 left, and eventually built it to 11, 66-55 with 4:43 remaining.ODU finished the night shooting.403 (25-62).
Gerald Lee led the Monarchs with 20 points, hitting seven-for-10fromthefloor.Keyon Carter added 13 points with a game high eight rebounds. Darius James scored 14 points and dished out a game highs even assists.
The Monarchs forced JMU into 20 turnovers with the help of 11steals. Gerald Lee, Keyon Carter, Ben Finney and Jonathan Adams each had two steals for ODU.
Besides James 23 points, Julius Wells added 13 and Devon Moore 12.Moore also dished out seven assists for the Dukes. The previous Constant Center opponent field goal mark was .562 by Charlotte in 2003. ODU's best ever mark in the Center was .574 against DePau lin 2005. The all-time best shooting by an ODU opponent was North Carolina who hit .754 in 1992 in Chapel Hill, NC.
ODU returns to action on Saturday when they play at George Mason in a 2 p.m. contest that will Be televised by ComCastSports Channel 35.