Trailing by five at half and as much as nine in the second frame, Adante' Holiman nailed a three at 8:59 to briefly give Georgia Southern (13-13, 5-8 SBC) the lead, but couldn't further it, falling 77-72 to James Madison (16-10, 9-4) on Thursday.
The lead changed hands several times through the first few possessions before the Dukes grabbed a five-point lead. Holiman's first three of the contest cut it back to two at 12-10 at the under-16.
The home team then went on a 7-0 run midway through the first. Bradley Douglas stole the ball, scored, and drew a foul, converting the extra point. Ensuing dunks by Braylhan Thomas and Douglas on steals gave the Eagles a five-point lead, the largest they had all game.
JMU slowly regained possession of the lead over the next few minutes. A pair of Tyson Brown layups got the Eagles within three twice over the final two minutes of the frame, but JMU went into the locker room up by five.
GS kept the game close early in the second stanza. A 9-3 run featuring a steal and slam by Eugene Brown III made it a three-point game near the under-16.
Holiman took over during a 14-5 run that briefly saw the Eagles snatch the lead back. Collin Kuhl missed a three-pointer down by two, but Nakavieon White batted an offensive rebound directly to Holiman who nailed the three to lead 61-60.
After JMU took the lead back on the next possession, the Eagles never overcame the deficit. A four-point play by Holiman at 4:46 shrunk the deficit back to three, but the Dukes put the clamps on in the final five minutes, as the Eagles scored just four points, all on free throws and dropped the Thursday contest by a score of 77-72.
Holiman had his seventh 20-point effort of the season and third in the last four games, hitting six threes to tie his career-high and finishing with 22. Douglas (10) was the only other scorer in double figures with Eren Banks and Brown both scoring 8.
Brown also added 11 rebounds for a game-high, and White dished five assists to stretch his total to 12 over the last two games.
The Eagles shot above 40 percent from both the field and three in the loss. The team will be bak in action on Saturday against Old Dominion.
