Nov. 21, 2008
Box Score
HARRISONBURG, Va.--Sophomore John Allison had a career night with 15 points, but a 16-0 run by James Madison erased an early deficit and sent Kennesaw State home with an 82-69 loss on Friday night at the JMU Convocation Center.
Jon-Michael Nickerson had a double-double for the Owls (2-2), tying a career-high with 19 points and adding 10 rebounds. Freshman Spencer Dixon scored 14 points off the bench for the Owls, who got 29 points total from the bench.
Things started off very well for visitors as Kennesaw State started the game on an 8-0 run. The Owls maintained an eight-point cushion for most of the first five minutes, but after falling behind 15-7, the Dukes (2-1) went on a 16-0 run over the next six minutes and four seconds to take a lead they would never relinquish.
After the JMU run, KSU soon found itself in foul trouble. Nickerson was forced to sit for the majority of the first half with two fouls, and Jonathan Whipple picked up his third foul by the time the first half ended.
The Owls kept trying to whittle down the lead in the second half, but the Dukes responded every time. The lead for the home team ballooned to 18 points, 52-34, with 15:33 remaining, but the Owls continued to fight. A 9-0 run, sparked by a Dixon three-pointer, sliced the deficit in half, 52-43.
While the Dukes would slowly pull away again, the Owls would cut the lead back to nine with just under 90 seconds to go after a three-pointer from Nickerson made the score 72-63. After a three-pointer for the Dukes with under 10 seconds to go, the game was essentially over with the Owls falling by 13.
The Owls took care of the ball especially well in the second half, committing only three turnovers while forcing the Dukes to turn the ball over on 11 occasions. Rebounding and foul shooting were two of the major keys for the Dukes in the victory, as JMU out-rebounded the Owls, 40-27, and outscored the Owls from the free-throw line 29-9.
Kennesaw State will be back in action on Wednesday night in Hamilton, N.Y., when the Owls face Colgate. Tip time is set for 7:30 p.m.
