HARRISONBURG, Va. – CJ Huntley finished his stellar birthday weekend by leading the App State men’s basketball team to its second straight Sun Belt victory, a 71-62 finish at James Madison.
App State never trailed after the first two in a half minutes, and led by as many as 20 thanks to a fierce defensive effort that caused multiple scoring droughts for the No. 1 scoring team in the country (88.0 ppg).
The Mountaineers (9-8, 2-2 SBC) held the Dukes (11-6, 2-2 SBC) to no field goals from the 16:42 mark of the first half to the 8:02 mark, where App State led 25-14 They did it again from the 3:27 timestamp all the way through the first three minutes and 15 seconds of the second half, jumping out to a 41-26 lead.
JMU had a 10-point run with five minutes remaining in the second half to cut the lead to nine, but was held scoreless yet again directly afterward for three minutes.
Huntley finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, two steals and a block while shooting 6-11 from the field. The junior recorded five points and five rebounds in the final four minutes to seal the win.
Terence Harcum led the Black & Gold in scoring with a season-high 16, and Tyree Boykin added 14. Donovan Gregory assisted nine shots for the second consecutive game, to go along with six points and six rebounds.
Tamell Pearson led the winning team in the plus-minus column with a +14, finishing with four points and six rebounds in 15 minutes of play.
App State forced 15 turnovers that led to 16 points, while also out-scoring JMU 27-16 in bench points. The Dukes were ranked second in the nation in bench points before the game, averaging 36.4.
The Mountaineers will continue conference action with two home games this week, hosting Georgia Southern on Thursday and Troy on Saturday.
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