HARRISONBURG, Virginia – Jordan Brown has been the man all season long for Louisiana and on Saturday he did just that in the Atlantic Union Bank Center. Brown posted his sixth double-double of the season, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. It wasn’t enough as the Cajuns couldn’t overcome a hot start to the second half by James Madison in a 74-68 final.
The game started as a defensive struggle, taking nearly three minutes for the first points to be scored. The Cajuns settled after that, scoring the next seven points after the first JMU basket of the game. Jordan Brown got things going with a jumper and Jalen Dalcourt capped the run with a steal and layup at the other end for the five-point lead.
After the Dukes came back to tie the score it became the Jordan Brown show. The big man had it going for Louisiana, scoring the next 10 Ragin’ Cajun points to trade blows with the home side. Terance Lewis II then took over with the next six Louisiana points, putting them ahead 23-19. Joe Charles closed the half with back-to-back three-pointers, but a strong finish to the half by the Dukes, and a buzzer-beater by Vado Morse tied things at 29 through 20 minutes.
The home side came out shooting in the second half, hitting their first three shots and forcing a timeout by the Cajuns. They pushed their lead to 11 before Louisiana got back into the game. Baskets by Brown and Charles trimmed the deficit to single digits before the Cajuns caught fire from deep.
Greg Williams Jr. buried a three and Dalcourt connected from long range on back-to-back possessions to tie things at 49. A Brown free throw and another Dalcourt three pushed Louisiana ahead 53-49. The Dukes answered with a 5-0 run that flipped the lead, which would then change hands four times down the stretch. With 5:28 to play Brown’s free throw tied it at 62, but Vado Morse’s three on the next possession put the Dukes ahead for good.
Dalcourt matched a season-high with 13 points off the bench. Charles added eight points as part of a bench unit that finished the night with 28. Williams Jr. also finished in double figures with 12 points while Themus Fulks had seven assists.
UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS
Louisiana returns to the Cajundome for the final week of the regular season. They open the week against Arkansas State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. before hosting South Alabama at 8 p.m. on Friday.
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