Freeman emerges as leader

Junior scores 18, leads squad to first CAA victory

Chris Labzda / senior photographer Junior guard Daniel Freeman spots up behind the arc during Saturday's CAA game against Towson.

JMU defeated Towson University, 57-55, Saturday at the Convocation Center to earn its first Colonial Athletic Association victory in six tries this season.

The Dukes improved to 4-10 overall while the Tigers dropped to 5-9 overall.

"Finally," coach Sherman Dillard said, following the win. "Obviously, this has been a tough stretch for us. We knew we had to find a way to get a [win]. Sometimes all it takes is just getting the taste of victory — It gives you that spark you need to start a fire."

After dropping nine of its previous 10 games, the Dukes edged out Towson with the help of junior guard Daniel Freeman's game-high 18 points.

"Being the only junior on the team and having so many freshmen that contribute significantly to our team, I feel like I can be not only a leader as far as being more aggressive … but I feel I can be a vocal leader as well," Freeman said.

From the start of the first half, things weren't looking good for the Dukes, as they trailed the Tigers 15-7 with under 12 minutes to play in the half.

Despite not getting its first field goal until the 15:03 mark of the first half, JMU found a way and rallied behind Freeman, its rising leader.

"It's games like this that Daniel [Freeman,] I think, does his best work," Dillard said. "I am not sure that we were as fluid as we should be offensively, but he was the one guy out there that was able to make plays.

"I think all teams that have any success have players like that," Dillard added. "And I thought tonight [Freeman] was that guy for us."

Freeman scored a lay-up for JMU's first basket of the night. The Dukes then continued to attack the Towson defense and chipped away at the lead until it finally took their first lead of the game, 26-25, with 2:31 left in the half. JMU led 33-32 at halftime.

"We came into the locker room energetic," red-shirt sophomore forward David Cooper said. "We came in positive … We had a feeling in the locker room that if we kept playing hard, the same way we played in the first half, we could pull this game out."

Despite having only one scorer (Freeman) in double figures, JMU managed to get enough of a balanced attack in the second half to keep the game close.

Freeman and four other players scored in the second half for the Dukes, including a strong performance by Cooper and freshman center Eddie Greene-Long.

Trailing by 6 points four minutes into the second half, JMU turned things around to go up 5 points with 5:22 remaining. The Dukes received some help from Towson as the Tigers missed seven of 11 free throws in the second half.

Three of those misses came in the final minutes of the game, when Towson had opportunities either to tie or cut into the Dukes' lead.

Pending a last-second shot attempt by Towson to win or tie the game at 57 with eight seconds left, Freeman connected on the game-winning free throws at the 1:48 mark.

The young JMU team has struggled early in the year, but Freeman hopes that the win Saturday will create a snowball effect and things will start to fall into place for the Dukes.

A crowd of 5,131 turned out for the first conference win of the season, and Dillard said he was grateful for the fan support for this game and these past weeks.

"Our fan support has been terrific throughout this," Dillard said. "I can't thank them enough for hanging in there with us. To have the crowd we had tonight — I think it speaks volumes about the kind of people we have in this community and our student body.

"That makes me feel good about where we are at, at this moment," Dillard said. "It certainly helps our players. The only way we can repay [the fans] in our community is to get on a roll and start to turn this thing around."

JMU will play Hofstra University Wednesday at the Convocation Center at 7 p.m.