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James Madison wins CAA crown, ends NCAA tourney drought

Mar 12, 2013 - 5:48 AM Richmond, VA (Sports Network) - A.J. Davis scored 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting and James Madison moved on to the NCAA Tournament after defeating top-seeded Northeastern, 70-57, in the finals of the CAA Tournament.

Rayshawn Goins had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds and Andre Nation added 10 points for the Dukes (20-14), who will compete in their fifth NCAA Tournament and first since 1994.

James Madison, which earned the third seed in the tourney, defeated William & Mary, 72-67, on Saturday and took down second-seeded Delaware, 58-57, on Sunday to make it to the title game.

Jonathan Lee had 14 points while David Walker and Marco Banegas-Flores scored 10 points apiece for the Huskies (20-12), who have not made an NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991.

"I know our locker room is extremely disappointed...felt like we let an opportunity slip away," Northeastern coach Bill Coen said. "I just thought James Madison played a terrific basketball game today and we got beaten by a better club."

At halftime, James Madison had a 40-18 advantage but Northeastern, which shot just 20.8 percent in the first half, made 50 percent of its shots in the second half.

The Huskies got within eight, 51-43, with 8:23 remaining in regulation, but it was as close as they could get.

James Madison outscored Northeastern, 19-8, over the next five-plus minutes to build a comfortable 70-51 cushion before the Huskies scored the final six points of the contest to account for the final margin.

James Madison shot 51.6 percent in the first half, as its started the game on a 26-6 run. After a layup by the Huskies' Reggie Spencer with 18:22 to play in the half, the Dukes did not allow a single field goal for the next 13 minutes.

"I don't know that we could have played a better first half," James Madison coach Matt Brady remarked. "We had to be in a mindset where we were going to attack Northeastern at both ends of the court."

Game Notes

Northeastern shot 3-of-17 from three-point range ... James Madison lost its only regular-season matchup against Northeastern, 66-64, on Feb. 20 ... For the first time since 1998, the CAA crowned a team other than Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, George Mason or North Carolina-Wilmington.