HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — Terrence Edwards scored 21 points, TJ Bickerstaff had 20, and No. 24 James Madison rallied past Radford 76-73 in a Cancun Challenge campus game on Friday night.
The Dukes survived their first game as a ranked team thanks to their defense in the closing minutes. DaQuan Smith put Radford ahead 73-70 on a jumper with 3:35 left, but the Highlanders didn’t score again. Bickerstaff put JMU (4-0) ahead to stay when he took a hard foul and made two free throws with 1:22 remaining.
Smith finished with 20 points for the Highlanders (2-3), Kenyon Giles scored 15 and Justin Archer contributed 14.
Julien Wooden finished with 15 points for JMU, including 11 in the first half as the Dukes built a 10-point lead late in the period. But Radford closed the half on a 14-0 run to go into the break leading 39-35.
It was back-and-forth early in the second half. Xavier Brown hit a deep 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to put the Dukes ahead 61-58 with 10 minutes to go. But Giles helped Radford regain the lead a few minutes later.
BIG PICTURE
Radford dropped its second straight to in-state opponents after losing at VCU on Wednesday.
JMU stunned then-No. 4 Michigan State in the season opener and continued its hot start.
UP NEXT
The teams travel to Mexico to continue the Cancun Challenge. JMU will face Southern Illinois on Tuesday in Riviera Maya and either Fresno State or New Mexico on Wednesday. Radford will play Morgan State on Tuesday and either Chicago State or Northern Colorado the following day.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
