By Joe Pantorno, Assistant Sports Editor
As two CAA stars, Hofstra’s senior guard Charles Jenkins and James Madison’s senior forward Denzel Bowles, clashed Monday night at the Mack, the future was watching with seven scouts from the NBA watched eagerly as the Pride pulled out an exciting overtime win 92-90 over the Dukes.
Hofstra flew out of the gates, starting things on a 7-0 run with the defense playing just as impressive as its offense. James Madison’s attempts to score down low were spurned by senior center Greg Washington, who recorded two early blocks on Bowles.
JMU settled things down and with some big shooting from outside by junior forward Julius Wells, cut the Hofstra lead to 17-16 with less than 11 minutes left in the first half.
The Dukes stayed hot from the field and were able to grab a 34-22 thanks to an 18-0 run with the Pride’s defense disappearing. Hofstra’s offense was not helping out the cause with the shooting going ice cold.
Bowles and Wells continued to light up the score sheet in the first half with the junior recording 14 points and the senior putting up 15 points and 7 rebounds. The duo alone outscored Hofstra in the first half, with James Madison leading the Pride 41-28 at halftime. The Dukes were shooting almost 50 percent from the field and 55 percent from beyond the arc.
“I kept telling the guys at halftime that the game is not over and find a way to hang in there,” said Hofstra head coach Mo Cassara. “We have to get a little better at that. We’ve gotten out to some good starts and we get a little complacent.”
Jenkins led the Pride with 10 points at the break, but Hofstra’s three-point game, which has been its bread and butter all season, was non-existent, going 2-11, a measly 18.2 percent.
Two early threes from Jenkins and senior guard Brad Kelleher to start the second half began to build some confidence for Hofstra as it tried to cut into the Madison lead, however, JMU was content on trading baskets as Bowles continued to wreak havoc. With 16 minutes remaining, the Dukes held a 50-38 lead.
What seemed to come out of nowhere, Hofstra roared back to life with a 13-2 run sparked by Jenkins that cut JMU’s advantage to six with the score at 52-49 with 11:51 remaining.
Madison was quick to erase the run, taking advantage of second chance opportunities and lazy Hofstra defending and reopening a seven point lead with eight and a half minutes left in the ball game.
Things took an unfortunate turn for Hofstra when junior forward David Imes fouled out. The lead grew to 11 with six and a half minutes left after a rare four point trip down the floor for Madison looked to put things away.
The Pride did not go away though, an 11-2 run pulled things back to within two at 71-69 with three and a half minutes left thanks to some great ball movement by Hofstra, making the extra pass and getting the open looks for Kelleher, Jenkins and freshman guard Shemiye McLendon from three-point range.
With the score at 76-71, Jenkins hit two free throws, stole the ball and after missing a lay-up, junior guard Mike Moore tipped it in to cut the deficit to one point at 76-75 with 54 seconds remaining.
A questionable foul call on sophomore guard Yves Jules had JMU extend its lead back to three with 54 seconds remaining, but a driving layup from Kelleher brought things back to one at 78-77.
After a lane violation on a set of free throws only put JMU up two, a foul on the Dukes sent McLendon to the line to try and tie the game. The freshman coolly hit both free throws to tie the game at 79. A steal from Jules with two seconds left and a missed heave from Jenkins ensured some extra time with Hofstra having all the momentum going into OT.
A missed free throw from Bowles provided a one point difference as each team traded a basket to start the extra 5 minutes. Two free throws and a jumper by Jenkins gave Hofstra an 85-83 lead with 2:42 left in overtime.
Enter the freshman McLendon once again, hitting a three-pointer from the corner to open up the Hofstra lead to 88-83. Moore sunk two free throws to cap a 7-2 Hofstra run and with the score at 90-86, a JMU three-pointer brought things back to within four with 1:44 remaining.
“I thought he [McLendon] was great,” said Cassara. “He has a knack for making big shots at big times and is a very good free throw shooter.”
Bowles, who was quiet for the last six minutes of the second half and for four of the five minutes in overtime, hit a lay-up and one to close the game to 90-89 with under a minute left. A missed three pointer from McLendon gave JMU possession with 17.4 seconds left.
With JMU holding the ball for the final shot, sophomore forward Andrey Semenov missed a lay-up that was snagged by freshman forward Stephen Nwaukoni who was immediately fouled. It was the freshman’s biggest rebound and free throws of his young college career. He hit both to put Hofstra up 92-89 with 3.9 seconds left.
“It’s really a unique thing to have two true freshman, one hit two free throws in regulation and one hit two free throws in overtime to win the game,” said Cassara.
McLendon fouled Wells with three seconds left, sending a man who killed Hofstra all day from the field to the free throw line. The junior sank the first shot to pull things to two, but clanked the second one off the rim. A mass scramble for the rebound on the floor ran the clock out and ended an absolute thriller.
Jenkins led all scorers with 35 points and McLendon and Moore each had 14. Bowles ended up with 27 points and 10 rebounds and Wells finished with 23 of his own.
“This is a great win not only for this team but for this program,” said Cassara. “Just so proud of the way our guys hung in there.”
JMU drops its second straight game, falling to 5-4 in conference and 15-6 overall. Hofstra improves to 14-6 overall and 8-1 in CAA play and are on its way down to Virginia for a first place conference showdown against VCU on Thursday.
Senior guard Charles Jenkins flys to the hoop in the second half of Hofstra’s 90-92 overtime win against James Madison. Jenkins finished the game with 35 points on 11-19 shooting. (Sean M. Gates/The Chronicle)
