National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
James Madison 70, Northeastern 57
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, March 11, 2013
Where: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Officials: # Les Jones, # Joe Lindsay, # Tim Nestor
Attendance: 6038

James Madison 70, Northeastern 57:
A.J. Davis scored 17 of his 26 points in the first half as the Dukes advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994 with a win over the top-seeded Huskies in the championship game of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament in Richmond, Va.

Northeastern erased a 24-point lead in a dramatic semifinal win over George Mason on Sunday, but could not completely recover from another dismal start as it remained without a tourney berth since 1991. Jonathan Lee led the Huskies with 14 points.

Rayshawn Goins had 14 points and 13 rebounds for third-seeded James Madison (20-14), which is in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time. Freshman Andre Nation had seven of his 10 points in the second half.

The Huskies (20-12) took a 5-3 lead before going completely cold. They were held without a field goal for nearly 13 minutes, during which the Dukes took a commanding 28-8 lead. It was 40-18 at halftime and Davis' 3-pointer with 13:47 remaining made it 48-28.

A 15-3 Northeastern burst made it an eight-point game with less than eight minutes left, but Huskies leading scorer Joel Smith fouled out seconds later and the regular-season champs hit the wall. Nation hit three free throws and added a dunk to spark a quick 7-1 surge and the celebration took off when Ron Curry threw down a dunk to make it 68-51 with 2:44 left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Davis finished the first half 6-for-9 from the floor. Northeastern was 5-for-24. ... Curry's dunk gave the James Madison bench its only points. ... David Walker and Marco Banegas-Flores had 10 points apiece for the Huskies, who earned the right to participate in the NIT by winning the regular-season crown.
Top Game Performances
 
James Madison   Northeastern
A.J. Davis 26 Scoring Jonathan Lee 14
Devon Moore 5 Assists Jonathan Lee 2
Rayshawn Goins 13 Rebounds Quincy Ford 7
A.J. Davis 7 Free Throws Made Marco Banegas-Flores 4
Andre Nation 3 Steals David Walker 4
Andre Nation 2 Blocks Derrico Peck 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
James Madison 70 49.0 4-14 18-25 13 36 4 6 16
Northeastern 57 37.0 3-17 14-26 7 25 1 10 13