DETROIT, Mich.--  Behind a solid team effort and blistering shooting in the first half, host Detroit defeated James Madison, 82-70 Saturday afternoon at Calihan Hall in a SEARS BracketBusters affair.  The Titans made 15 of their first 19 shots to help open an 18-point first-half lead but had to fend off the Dukes to etch the win.

This game featured just a bit of everything.  Highlight-reel dunks, coaches clad in bow ties, senior day, a bicycle-riding President, free pizza for the crowd and a fan hitting a half-court shot.  Just your run-of-the-mill, regular-season home finale for a team that is on a hot streak unlike any other in recent years and steam-rolling towards the Horizon League tournament and the postseason.

"It was a special day for our seniors," head coach Ray McCallum said. "It's not a normal day because of the emotions involved with the seniors and having their families here.  It was a big win for us out of conference to get us to 17 wins, to match what we had last year and give us momentum as we head into the final two games of the conference season."

Momentum certainly rests comfortably on the side of the Titans.  Winners of five straight and 10 of their last 12, Detroit has shrugged-off a 1-4 start to the league season to post a 10-3 record since the turn of the calendar year.

It took little to get momentum started in Saturday's win as the Detroit seniors tallied the first 14 Titan points to help the home team build a quick five-point cushion.  The last six in that run came from senior Donavan Foster, making his first start of the season.  He made good on three straight free throws and followed it up on the next trip with a three-pointer.

All of this happened with the Titans' leading scorer on this day-- Jason Calliste-- resting on the bench, giving way to seniors to start the game.  He made up for lost time steadfastly, going 3-3 from deep and 4-4 from the free-throw line for 13 first-half points.  His third three came with 6:00 left in the half and Detroit enjoyed an 18-point margin before settling for a 45-38 lead at the break.

The fact that JMU out-rebounded the Titans in the opening period (17-8) turned moot as there weren't many missed shots to be had.  Detroit misfired on just nine shots from the floor (15-24) and one free throw (9-10) the entire 20 minutes, with five players posting at least six points before halftime.

The second half had an inauspicious beginning with Detroit mustering just one Eli Holman field goal in the first 6:30 and the Dukes pulled even at 49-apiece. A.J. Davis, who led all scorers with 26 points, briefly gave the Dukes the lead with a free throw, but JMU managed to only re-tie the score two more times before a Foster trifecta put Detroit ahead for good.

While that triple was big, his final make from deep made the home crowd collectively cheer.  The vocal fans-- clamoring for free pizza if the Titans were to clear 80 points-- pressured the senior to shoot rather than run out the clock.  He obliged and made it to go 3-3 from distance for a season-high 12 points.  It gave Detroit five players with double digit points in a game that saw the Titan bench outscore the Dukes' reserves, 39-7.

And there was plenty of other moments that brought the Calihan faithful to its feet.  Every Doug Anderson field goal did that.  A prolific dunker, Anderson started with an alley oop and a two-handed windmill in the first half and had a pair of ridiculous put-back dunks as a second-half encore.  All told, the junior ran his season total to 49 slams, more than half of his field goals (96). 

The final tally had eight Titans with at least six points.  Calliste's 19 led the way, followed by a dozen from Foster and 10 apiece by LaMarcus Lowe, Anderson and Evan Bruinsma.  Simon added eight points and five assists while Ray McCallum handed-out seven assists with seven points and five rebounds.

Davis' 26-point effort came on 9-11 from the free throw line while Andrey Semenov chipped-in 14 and Gene Swindle 10 for an injury-depleted Dukes team.  Only six JMU players logged significant minutes and they were without second-leading scorer Humpty Hitchens.

Detroit plays its final two regular season games on the road, heading to Cleveland State Thursday before a Saturday match-up at Youngstown State in key Horizon League games that will determine postseason tournament seedings.

Notes: Foster and Holman each made their first starts of the season, allowing all four Titan seniors into the starting lineup (LaMarcus Lowe, Chase Simon) ... A fan hit a half-court shot at halftime to win a trip to South Beach, Fla. ... UDM President Dr. Antoine Garibaldi was the final rider in "Cardio for a Cause", a 36-hour event that featured a rider on a stationary bike to help raise awareness and raise money for the American Cancer Society and Titan Athletics ... Coach McCallum sported a blue bow-tie as part of the ON THE LINE promotion to help bring awareness to prostate cancer. To learn more about Statement Week & ON THE LINE, visit www.ontheline.com ... Detroit topped the 80-point mark in a win at home for the fourth time in the regular season to make good on a promotion that gave the home crowd a free Buddy's pizza with their game ticket.