HARRISONBURG, Va. (Dec. 30, 2000) -- Freshman forward Jerald Fields had 18 points and eight rebounds off the bench and junior guard Dimeco Childress had 15 points and 11 rebounds as East Tennessee State beat James Madison 73-63 Saturday (Dec. 30), handing the host Dukes their fourth straight loss.

Fields hit on six of seven shots from the field and also had three assists and two blocked shots in 29 minutes as the Buccaneers raised their record to 5-6. Childress hit on five of 13 shots and had two three-point field goals, an assist and a steal in 37 minutes.

East Tennessee State used a 16-4 scoring burst to increase a 13-12 lead to 29-16 with 6:35 left in the first half, and freshman guard Ryan Lawson and Fields keyed a 10-0 second-half scoring burst that again gave the Buccaneers control after JMU had pulled to within 42-38 with 16:19 to play.

Lawson started the 10-0 run with a three-pointer, and Fields hit on a layup and two free throws before Lawson's three-pointer with 14:15 left gave East Tennessee State a 52-38 margin. The Buccaneers' largest lead was 59-44 with 9:57 remaining.

JMU, which fell to 5-7, got to within 61-54 with 3:09 left, but seven straight Buccaneer points, all from the foul line, gave them a 68-54 edge with 1:38 to play. JMU pulled to within 71-63 with 34 seconds to play but didn't score again.

East Tennessee State went from the 9:57 mark of the second half until the 3:24 mark without scoring, but JMU had only five points during that period. The Buccaneers got their last 12 points from the foul line after Fields broke their scoring drought with a layup with 3:29 left.

Lawson with 13 points and Cliff Decoster with 10 joined Fields and Childress in double figures in scoring for East Tennessee State.

JMU got 14 points and eight rebounds from Pat Mitchell, 13 points from Tim Lyle and 10 from Dwayne Braxton. The Dukes played without guard Mickey Dennis, who missed his second straight game with a foot injury, and had starting point guard David Fanning for only six minutes. Fanning suffered a foot injury in the first half and didn't return.

East Tennessee State shot 41.7 percent (25-60) from the field overall and hit on six of 16 three-point attempts and on 17 of 27 free throws.

JMU shot 40.7 percent overall (24-59) and hit on only one of 15 three-point tries. The Dukes had a 40-38 rebounding edge but committed 15 turnovers to East Tennessee State's 12.