Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. (11/19/13) – Sophomore guard Carlton Brundidge scored a career-high 22 points as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team spoiled James Madison's banner raising night with a 71-67 win Tuesday at the JMU Convocation Center. The Dukes began the night with a banner raising ceremony to honor the 2012-13 team that won the CAA Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Detroit (2-2) led 69-63 with 33 seconds left in regulation, before JMU's Charles Cooke drained a three-pointer with 28 ticks left to trim the lead to three 69-66. Detroit junior forward Juwan Howard Jr. was then fouled but missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity from the charity stripe to keep the margin three. Howard then fouled Cooke during the Dukes possession, but like Howard he to missed the first of two free throws before netting the second to trim the Titans lead to 69-67 with 15 second left. Brundidge was then fouled on the Titans possession and made both free throws to put Detroit up four 71-67 with 10 seconds left. Cooke missed a three-point attempt in the closing seconds to seal a hard fought road win for the Titans.

Brundidge finished with a game-high 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-6 from downtown, while Howard pitched in 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Freshman guard Jarod Williams had another strong outing in front of 40-50 hometown fans as he finished with 11 points, two assists and a steal in his first collegiate start, while his backcourt classmate Matthew Grant recorded nine points and three assists. Senior Evan Bruinsma led the Titans with a team-high eight rebounds, while his classmate Ugochukwu Njoku grabbed seven boards to go along with five points and two timely blocked shots.

JMU (2-3) opened the game with a 6-0 run, before Brundidge connected on his first three pointer of the season to cut the lead in half. But that didn't last long as JMU's Andrey Semenov matched Brundidge with a three of his own to give the Dukes a 9-3 lead. After a Williams layup made the score 9-5, the Dukes added to their lead with back-to-back buckets to make the score 13-5 with 15:12 left in the opening half. The Titans then responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game, which included back-to-back layups from Howard and a three-pointer from Grant. The Dukes would answer back with a 5-0 run to go up 18-13, before the Titans closed the half with a 20-14 run, which included a stretch of nine-straight points from Brundidge, who scored 15 points in the first half, including three field goals from beyond the arc.

The Titans opened the second half with a 15-8 run, capped off by a three from Williams to go up 48-40 with 13:22 left. After a JMU timeout the Dukes put together a 7-0 run to trim the Titans lead to 48-47 with 11:26 left, before Williams ended the run with another three-pointer from deep in the corner to extend Detroit's lead back to four. Both teams then exchanged baskets for the next five minutes until JMU's Tom Vodanovich had a chance to tie the score at the free throw line, but only split the pair leaving Detroit in front 57-56 with 6:26 left, that would be as close as the score would get as the Titans responded with a 10-4 run to go up 67-60 with just over three minutes remaining.

Detroit shot 43.1 percent (22-of-51) overall, including 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from downtown, while JMU shot 40 percent (18-of-45) overall, including 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from beyond the arc. The Titans out rebound the Dukes 37-31, but turned the ball over 16 times – 11 times in the first half – compared to only 12 JMU turnovers. The Titans also committed a season-high 31 fouls sending the Dukes to the charity stripe 45 times, but lucky for Detroit the Dukes only made 26.

Detroit will return home to host the sub-regional round of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project with three games in three nights against FAU, Toledo and Stony Brook. The Titans first game will be against FAU on Friday, Nov. 22 with tip-off scheduled at 7:00 p.m. at Calihan Hall. That game will be televised live on Comcast Sports 900 and streamed live online by HLN Detroit.

Detroit will then face Toledo on Saturday (Nov. 23) at 5:30 p.m., followed by Stony Brook on Sunday (Nov. 24). The Toledo game will be televised on live WADL TV 38, while the Stony Brook contest will be live on Comcast Sports 900. For more information on Titans basketball please visit their Gameday Central page.

Tickets for the 2K Sports Classic benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project at historic Calihan Hall are still available. For more information on season and general ticket information, click here or call the Detroit Ticket Office at (313) 993-1700.

GAME NOTES: Detroit improved to 2-0 all-time against James Madison … Juwan Howard Jr. has scored in double figures in all four games to start the season … The win at JMU is the Titans first true road win in November since topping UAlbany 66-54 in Albany, N.Y. on Nov. 21, 2009 … The Titans also beat Austin Peay State 94-93 at Bowling Green on Nov. 23, 2011.