Dukes Complete Two Comebacks, Win Huge Game in OT Over Hofstra
Still climbing up the record books
Well it took two double-digit comebacks in regulation and an extra five minutes, but the Dukes finally notched the big home win they’ve been looking for during this very solid year with a 98-95 victory over Hofstra and all-everything Juan’ya Green. We’re both a bit beat up from the Super Bowl (yes, we’re old) so we’ll keep this brief today, but that was an enormous, clutch performance as the Dukes started a tough closing stretch (6 of the final games are against the league’s top half). It also gives the Dukes, currently tied at 8-4 CAA with Hofstra, all tiebreakers with the Flying Dutchmen as JMU completed a surprising, and valuable, season sweep. Dukes are back in action Thursday night in Charleston and then have a shot at conference-leading UNCW down at the beach next Saturday.
Senior Guard Ron Curry Might be the CAA’s most dangerous player
We’re running out of superlatives for the way Ron Curry is playing right now and the unbelievable progress he’s made with his overall game during his four years at JMU. It really is amazing what a player that commits to sticking with a program and a coach and working their butt off can do in four years. Curry hit SEVEN treys last night, including the biggest shot of the game when he tied it on a kickout from YoYo after an offensive board with 10 seconds left in regulation. His steady hand and willingness to take over when the team is struggling is the biggest reason the Dukes overcame a 12-point halftime deficit and then a 10-point second half hole after they had recovered from the first time being down. He just passed one of our all-time favorite gunners, Julius Wells, for 8th on JMU’s all-time scoring list and is now only 21 points behind another scoring machine from the program’s darkest days, Juwann James.
Is YoYo the Key? Almost Definitely
Yohanny Dalembert continues to look more and more like the breakout player we saw last year after notching another double double (15/13 with some blocks and steals thrown in for good measure) yesterday. When he plays up to his ability, this team is a true threat against anyone as it completely opens up the floor. Hopefully this run continues for another month and a half.
Hofstra’s Juan’ya Green Joins a Small, Interesting List
Hofstra’s scoring leader hit an odd and fascinating milestone yesterday when he became only the fourth player in NCAA history to score 1000 points for two different schools. Green started his career at Niagara before transferring. Even with the transfer epidemic completely out of control in college hoops right now, this is a rare feat as it probably means you played two years at each place and almost certainly means you weren’t hurting for playing time or opportunities at your first institution. Also of note, two of the three previous players to achieve this feat (Kenny Battle and Gary Neal) went on to decent NBA careers and it’s certainly possible Green will get a chance to do so as well.
That was an exciting game. My only question was why Winston Grays played only 4 minutes. I thought he had played well his previous couple games.
It was a great game, especially coming from behind on some clutch Curry shots. Great to see the Dukes come back after the collapse against Bill & Mary. Too bad the tourney is not held somewhere that I will spend my money. I gas up before I get to Maryland and try not to spend a penny in that miserable state.
I think Winston Gray’s is sort of the odd man out now that Joey McClean is playing well and can run the point in long stretches. I think Morgan should be logging 8-12 minutes per game in a rotation with McClean and Kent.