Drexel's Tramaine Isabell
Drexel Rallies Past JMU, 70-62, In Tourney Opener
Rob Washburn
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (March 3, 2018) – Austin Williams recorded his seventh double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds and Tramaine Isabell scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half as eighth-seeded Drexel earned a 70-62 comeback win over ninth-seeded James Madison in the opening game of the 2018 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by Jersey Mike’s Subs, Saturday evening at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The Dragons (13-19) trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half, but battled back down the stretch and took the lead for good with 3:36 left. Williams, a senior, added seven blocked shots and Isabell, a junior, chipped in five assists and shot 12-of-14 from the free throw in the win – Drexel’s first at the conference tournament since 2016.
Senior Sammy Mojica was the only other Dragon to reach double figures with 11 points for DU, which advances to the CAA quarterfinals for a Noon tip off on Sunday against top-seeded College of Charleston. That contest will be on streamed for free on CAA.tv.
JMU, which entered winning four of its last seven games, ends the season with a 10-22 overall record. Freshman guard Matt Lewis scored a team-high 15 points to go with three treys, junior Stuckey Mosley had 13 points, and classmate DeVelle Phillips finished with eight points and six boards in defeat. It was the 18
th straight game in double figures for Lewis.
Madison started the second half on a quick 13-6 run that ended with a slam from Phillips that pushed the lead to 46-36 with 15:37 to play. Despite not making a field goal for nearly three minutes during the stretch, Drexel was able to hang around and eventually tied the game at 52-52 with just over seven minutes left.
Isabell made the most of his shots from the charity stripe throughout, while he split the first of two shots with 7:07 remaining. From there, he finished with 11 of his team’s final 18 points in the game as Drexel held on for the victory.
With both teams struggling to find a rhythm in the first half – the Dukes had 11 team field goals compared to nine for Drexel – Lewis’ second trey of the contest ended the scoring with less than one second remaining to give the Dukes a 33-30 lead at the break. Isabell, who entered the game as the CAA’s second-leading scorer (21.1 points per game), was limited to just four points on 1-of-8 shooting in the first 20 minutes but finished with his 15
th 20-point effort of the season.