HARRISONBURG, Va. – Despite four players in double-figures and senior Matt McMullen's career-high, Colgate men's basketball was unable to slide past host James Madison on Monday night.
 
The Dukes prevailed, 77-71.

McMullen recorded 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and added five rebounds and two assists for his personal-best game. He also knocked down 2-of-4 from long to go along with his perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
 
Junior Austin Tillotson posted 17 points and three assists, while Damon Sherman-Newsome and Ethan Jacobs both reached 14 and 12 points, respectively, to close out the Colgate players in double-figures.
 
Luke Roh tied Tillotson for leading the team in assists with three. The Scottsdale, Arizona, native also pulled down a game-high eight boards throughout the contest.
 
It was a back-and-forth game for much of the first half. The Dukes pushed their edge to the largest of the match at 14 points, following an 11-0 run. That run featured back-to-back makes from downtown.
 
Colgate would not go away, however, returning the favor by going on a 12-0 rally on its own to cut into JMU's edge at 32-29. Jacobs recorded five of his 12 points during that stretch.
 
The Raiders would have only gone into the break down three but a jumper from Ron Curry with four seconds left gave the Dukes the five-point edge at halftime.
 
Colgate continued to close the deficit throughout much of the second half and pulled to within four after McMullen drained a 3-pointer with one minute remaining in the game. Even after some solid defending from the Raiders and a few key stops, JMU went 6-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to secure the victory.
 
Colgate has a quick turnaround as they welcome Albany on Wednesday for its home opener at 7 p.m. on Cotterell Court.
 
Bottom Line
• James Madison 77, Colgate 71
 
Facts & Figures
• McMullen reached his career-best 18 points after going 6-of-9 from the floor.
• The senior theater major also matched his career-high in free throws going 4-for-4 and in steals with two.
• Tillotson added 5-of-10 makes from the floor to grab 17 points. The York, Pennsylvania, native also dished out a team-high three assists.
• Sherman-Newsome continued his double-digit scoring streak with 14 points, pushing it to seven-straight games, dating back to March 1 of last season.
• Colgate shot 46 percent from the floor and 39 percent from long. The Dukes shot 52.3 and 54.5 percent, respectively.
• JMU slightly won the rebounding battle by 32-26, while the Raiders had the  advantage at the free throw line missing just three (16-of-19 to 25-of-38).
• The Dukes notched 34 of their total 77 points form inside the paint and converted 12 points off of Raider turnovers. JMU also posted 13 points from second chance opportunities. Colgate on the other hand tallied 20 points from in the paint, nine off of turnovers and six second chance points.
• JMU saw Yohanny Dalembert earn a game-high 20 points after going 6-of-8 from the floor and 8-of-14 from the line. Curry tallied 19 points and a game-high six assists, while Jackson Kent and Winston Grays recorded 17 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Turning Point
• Colgate had cut the Dukes lead to just four points following one of McMullen's two makes from behind the arc with one minute remaining on the clock.
• The Raiders tightened up their defensive efforts and despite some good stops saw the Dukes go 6-of-8 down the stretch to hold onto the victory.   
 
Interesting Notes
• Tillotson shifts his career double-digit scoring games to 25, while also reaching that feat in all of the Raiders contests so far this year.
• McMullen beat his previous career-high scoring night, which came February 22, 2012, by four points.
• Colgate's 71 points in Monday's contest was the most its scored in a game all season.
• The 77 points James Madison notched was also the most the Raiders have given up in a contest all season.
• The Raiders also shot a season-best 46 percent from the floor and 39.1 percent from long.

From the Sources
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: (on his teams four road games in a row) "We've been on the road here for a stretch to start our season and we've played in some great environments. We played in front of a packed house at La Salle, we had a tough one at Cornell, where we gave up a big lead and then played in another great venue at Campbell on Saturday. I thought our game tonight was a fun one to be in with the James Madison fans and the band cheering. It's a great environment to take your team to."
 
(on coaching against a friend) "Personally it was a challenging game for me as Coach (Matt) Brady and I go way back to when I was in seventh grade. I used to go to this camp in Southern New Jersey and it was kind of the time where I realized that I would have the chance to play basketball at a high level. He had a big part in that by teaching me the game and making me a better player. A lot of the stuff we use today to help our team improve I learned from him, so that's not really something you like to do is play against a friend."
 
"I credit their group a lot. For a team that's not very experienced they didn't make a ton of inexperienced plays. You have to give James Madison credit for running good stuff, taking you out of position and ultimately getting themselves to the free throw line and knocking down those shots."
 
(on being down a game-high 14 points in the first half)  "When that happens you start to feel like it may slip away again. We've been on the road a lot early in the season but we do have a veteran group. We have a lot of guys who are experienced and are in their last year of college basketball. I'm not surprised that they didn't give up or quit."
 
"Again James Madison was playing a little zone and we have some guys who are capable shooters. You hope you're just able to make a couple jump shots to get yourself back in the game but we did it on the other end of the court, which has been our emphasis. We've got to play better defense and make defensive plays if we are going to be where we need to be. Ultimately it was just too big of a hole and we used too much energy to get back into it."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Saturday's attendance was: 2,623

Up Next
• Colgate has a quick turnaround as welcomes Albany on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip on Cotterell Court.
• This game marks the Raiders home opener for the 2014-15 season.
• The Great Danes are coming off a 76-73 overtime loss to Quinnipiac on Saturday.
• This will be the 20th all-time meeting between these two programs. Colgate won the last meeting a year ago by nine points at 69-60 in Albany, New York.