With the loss, the Big Green men slipped to 1-2 on the season.
Despite getting 20 points from Alex Barnett '09, including three triples in the second half, the Big Green could not overcome its 21 turnovers and poor shooting night.
Other key contributors for the team were DeVon Mosley '09 with 12 points and five turnovers, and Johnathan Ball '08, who grabbed a double-double with 11 points and a sturdy 10 rebounds before fouling out late in the game's second half.
Mosley and the rest of the team knew they were in for a tough battle.
"Before the game, Coach [Terry] Dunn stressed that JMU would come out with much more intensity granted that we beat them last year," Mosley said.
The game was a tight one for most of the first half. Both teams started slowly, turning the ball over on numerous occasions and displaying difficulties finding their shooting touches. A short jumper by Ball with six minutes to go in the first half gave Dartmouth a 25-24 lead.
After that, the Big Green never led again. The Dukes were able to go on a scoring burst while shutting down Dartmouth's offense at the same time.
Dartmouth could not muster a field goal for the final six minutes of the half, scoring only four points in that period, all on free throws.
In addition, the team made a number of risky passes both into the paint and on kick-outs, giving the Dukes plenty of opportunities to push the ball back down the court. The Big Green went into the half down 37-29.
Back from the break, JMU went right back to where it left off. Dartmouth was not able to stop the Dukes' momentum, and JMU's lead reached 55-35 with 12:13 left in the game.
The main problems were the Big Green's failure to create many open looks at the basket and then to convert them into points.
The Big Green got no closer than 60-47 with 7:18 remaining in the contest. Barnett led the team on a mini-run, hitting a few shots to give Dartmouth's offense some life.
It seemed at that point the Big Green had a chance to trim the lead to single digits.
Unfortunately, the Big Green just could not get the stops it needed on defense to come back from a double-digit deficit.
While the team had some success scoring in transition in the first half, the Big Green could not come up with any fast break points in the second half.
Barnett agreed that the team needed to improve its play on both ends of the court.
"I think that our shooting and defense didn't go well today," Barnett said. "Coach Dunn stressed taking care of the ball and rebounding before the game, and we were only able to take care of one of those categories," he said, referring to the team's rebounding.
As the clock dwindled down, the team's play only got more and more anxious, leading to quick triggers and forced jumpers.
James Madison's ability to keep the scoring up countered the Big Green's offensive push by slowing the game down, effectively forcing Dartmouth to use its half court sets instead of the up-tempo game it hoped to utilize.
"JMU played together, aggressively, and fairly well," Mosley said. "We needed to adjust to or match their transition breaks and aggressive guard play."
Dartmouth shot 40.8 percent from the field overall while JMU converted at a significantly higher rate of 47.8 percent.
Even with a 33-27 rebounding edge, 11 on the offensive end, the Big Green could not hold on to the ball long enough to stay in the game, allowing a total of 19 points off turnovers.
Another stumbling block was Dartmouth's free-throw shooting in the second half. While the team converted at a 10 for 11 rate in the first half, Dartmouth shot a dreadful three for 11 from the line in the second half, certainly not helping the comeback cause.
"We didn't shoot free throws well tonight," Mosley said. "Nor did we -- notably, I -- take care of the basketball."
Next up, the Big Green travels to face a tough Rutgers team which has started its season 4-1. Tip off is set for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
