Brooks, Dukes experience déjà vu all over again

Jonathan Taylor / contributing photographer Sophomore guard Andrea Benvenuto looks for an open man Thursday.

January provided a steady dose of déjà vu for coach Kenny Brooks.

Thursday night, Brooks looked up at the game clock and felt a strange feeling that he was experiencing something for the second time.

Except it was the fourth.

The Dukes were clinging to a 69-68 lead after two free throws by sophomore guard Lesley Dickinson. The Towson Tigers had just tied-up freshman forward Tamera Young, forcing a jump ball and were in-bounding underneath the JMU basket.

There was one second left on the clock.

"Same scenario against George Mason," Brooks said. "That time we had a miscommunication and they got a wide open lay-up to force overtime."

This time there would be no mistakes.

"Before I even got a chance to talk, [the players] came over and asked, ‘Coach, are we switching everything?’ " Brooks said. "I said, ‘Yes, switch everything.’ I pronounced every syllable."

Towson’s inbound pass was swatted out of bounds by sophomore center Meredith Alexis with three-tenths of a second left. The Tigers didn’t get another shot off.

"He made it very very clear that a lot of communication had to go on," sophomore guard Andrea Benvenuto said of the timeout.

Of course, Brooks had his reasons. Thursday marked the fourth time this month that the Dukes were in that a similar situation.

Against Virginia Commonwealth University Jan. 9, the Dukes fouled VCU guard Meaghan Evans with 1.8 seconds left and Evans hit two free throws to send the game into overtime. The Dukes lost 86-78 in double OT.

Against George Mason, center Julie Flanders’ lay-up with 1.8 seconds left forced the Dukes into overtime for the second consecutive game. JMU lost 50-48.

Two days later, the Dukes again found themselves up two late in the second half, this time against the Drexel Dragons. As Drexel ran the game’s final play, a scramble for the ball broke out.

"As that scramble was going on, I looked up at the clock," Brooks said after the Drexel game. "There was 1.8 seconds left."

JMU hung on to win that game 50-48.

"It was a very eerie situation," Brooks said. "It’s like Groundhog Day or something."

Then there was Thursday night.

"It was a different déjà vu," Brooks said with a smile. "There was only one second left this time."

The Dukes attempt to shake Punxsutawney Phil off their backs at Drexel Feb. 3. Tip off is 7 p.m.