Freddy Hicks scored a game-high 24 points, but the Arkansas State men’s basketball team dropped a tough 91-71 decision to second-seeded James Madison in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game on Monday night inside the Pensacola Bay Center.
Hicks’ season-best total came on 6-of-12 from the field and 11-of-13 from the foul line, while he also grabbed seven rebounds. He earned All-Tournament honors after averaging 22.0 points, and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 62.9 percent from the field and 90.5 percent (19-21) from the foul line. Caleb Fields joined Hicks on the All-Tournament list, averaging 12.3 points and 4.7 assists with an 81.3-percent (13-16) clip at the charity stripe.
The Red Wolves (18-16) out-rebounded the Dukes (31-3) 36-30, including 17 offensive rebounds. A-State shot 35.6 percent from the floor on 21-of-59, while going 22-for-29 (75.9 percent) at the free-throw line. JMU shot at a 62.5-percent clip (35-56) and hit 11-of-19 from beyond the arc.
Izaiyah Nelson recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds to go along with four blocks, while Derrian Ford also scored 12 points and hit a team-high three from deep. Fields and Taryn Todd both registered 10 points and 5 assists.
Xavier Brown led the Dukes with 21 points – all in the first half – and 10 rebounds. Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 19 while Jaylen Carey and Noah Freidel accounted for 13 and 12 apiece.
A-State overcame a slow start in which it hit 1 of its first seven shots to take a 14-12 lead on a layup by Todd. The Dukes then caught fire from the field, hitting 10 of their last 13 field-goal tries to take a 42-32 lead into the half.
JMU pushed its lead out to 15 early in the second half, but the Red Wolves kept fighting to keep it within 12. Edwards later capped a 9-0 run to give James Madison a 25-point lead with under 10 minutes to play. JMU’s largest lead of the night came on another jumper by Edwards that put the count at 87-58 with 5:35 to go.
The Red Wolves closed strong down the stretch, scoring 13 of the game’s final 17 points, capped by a Nelson slam in the final minute.
