A.J. Davis did indeed 'put the team on his back' last night as he scored a career high 36 points in a comeback effort that lifted the Dukes over William & Mary 69-67. The win ultimately granted JMU the three seed in next weeks CAA tournament and a rematch with the Tribe.
Davis, who has been molded into a bench player came into the game after just two minutes and didn't look back. The team went into the locker room with 31 points; 21 were Davis'. For Tony Shaver's squad, sophomore phenom Marcus Thornton who kept up with Davis netting 19 of his own in the first half. If you recall, these two combined for 49 points (Davis, 27 & Thornton, 22 respectively) in the February 6 meeting that gave JMU an 81-71 win.
So Brady's team went into the break Saturday down 47-31. Shaver's team almost shot the lights out of Kaplan Arena at 80% from the field while the Dukes, who historically shoot miserably on the road found themselves at a respectable 40%.
Brady said in an interview at the end of halftime that senior Rayshawn Goins "didn't show up" in the first half especially when it came to guarding W&M's Tim Rusthoven who finished with 20. Brady didn't take long to remove Goins in the second half and it will now be interesting to see how the team will plan going into next Saturday.
The second half was more of the same lights out shooting for the Tribe, but at the halfway point in the half, the Dukes began to slowly creep back in just as they have done in numerous contests over the past month.
They didn't grab their first lead of the game until 1:07 was remaining on the clock after Davis netted a layup in the lane giving them a 67-65 advantage. This came after Andre Nation sniffed out a back door cut in the lane on the other end causing a much needed turnover.
With 19.1 seconds left the building was in silence as Devon Moore made a spin move in the lane twisting his knee and hitting the deck screaming in agony after being fouled. Whether it was a cramp or just a hard hit, I do not know, but he was able to stay in the game and make two crucial free throws in a one and one situation that put the team up 69-67. The Tribe got one more chance and the ball as predicted was in the hands of Thornton who could not connect on a deep three that would've given W&M the lead and perhaps the win.
The Dukes defense was able to keep Thornton to just one second half point, a possible factor in the large comeback as the team found themselves down by as many as 19 on Saturday.
Brady has said that he believes his team is learning to fight and the past few games have showed such resiliency.
Onward towards Richmond now. In what looked like would be a poor final outing for JMU turned into a successful trip to colonial Williamsburg. Besides entering with a tough 4 vs 5 matchup with Drexel, the Dukes will get a rematch with W&M at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night.
I believe this is beneficial to the team for the most part because they will avoid a matchup with Northeastern until Monday night in the championship game if both make it that far.
In my opinion they are on the half of the bracket that they stand the best shot in. Another win Saturday against the Tribe will pushe them to their first Sunday appearance in the tournament since 2001. They will either face #2 Delaware or #7 Hofstra. Yes, I am predicting that Delaware will easily get past the Pride however the Blue Hens ESCAPED Hempstead with a 57-56 victory under a week ago.
I'm gonna say that both JMU and Delaware make it to Sunday into the 4:30 p.m. slot. JMU would have the upper leg in this matchup as they swept the two game series this season, however knowing the Dukes' inconsistency in Richmond, that might be out the window.
On the other half of the bracket you will find your only bye with #1 Northeastern, who will await the winner of Saturday's first game between #4 George Mason and #5 Drexel. This game will probably be the toughest, hard fought game in the tournament.
I will post further predictions as the week rolls on.
Check out these wonderful links below>>
Video HIghlights
CAA Tournament Bracket
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