James Madison and La Salle round out the field of 64 as both won their first-round matchups to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.
March Madness scores 2013: James Madison and La Salle round out the field
James Madison won their first NCAA tournament game since 1983 and La Salle is continues to dance for the first time in 23 years as the two teams won their First Four matchups to advance to the second round.
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The James Madison Dukes won their first NCAA Tournament game since 1983 with a 68-55 win over the LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds on Thursday. The La Salle Explorers won their first tournament game in 23 years with a 80-71 victory over the Boise State Broncos, upsetting the Broncos' first ever at-large bid into the tournament.
The Dukes ran the table in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament to earn the league's auto-bid into the NCAA Tournament and senior guard A.J. Davis made sure the Dukes will get at least one more shot at a win.
Davis scored 20 points and freshman guards Charles Cooke and Andre Nation chipped in a combined 29 points as the Dukes outscored the Blackbirds 36-24 in the second half to coast to the win. James Madison will face the Indiana Hoosiers in the second round on Friday morning.
The Dukes’ last win in the tournament was over West Virginia in 1983. It is also the first appearance for James Madison in the tournament since 1994.
It was a big day on the Explorers' front for many reasons. La Salle signed its charter and opened its doors to students 150 years ago to the day and won the national title way back in 1955. Four Explorers scored in double-figures, led by Tyrone Garland's 22 points and Ramon Galloway's 21 as La Salle shot a season best 63.3 percent from the floor.
Anthony Drmic led the Broncos with 28 points as Boise State by all statistical accounts played a solid game, but the Broncos couldn't keep up as pretty much everything La Salle threw up landed in the hoop. It was Boise State's first time in the NCAA Tournament since 2008 and its first-ever at-large selection.
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