Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 24 points to help propel No. 22 James Madison to an 82-76 victory Tuesday in the Cancun Challenge semifinals in Cancun, Mexico.
T.J. Bickerstaff provided 19 points and seven rebounds as James Madison (5-0) advanced to Wednesday's championship game against Fresno State or New Mexico State. Noah Freidel and Julien Wooden each added 10 points.
It was the fourth time this season that the Dukes pulled out a close game. They toppled then No. 4 Michigan State in overtime and needed two overtimes to win at Kent State. They also rallied from a late deficit to edge Radford 76-73 last Friday.
With Xavier Johnson scoring a career-high 38 points, Southern Illinois (3-1) rallied from a 16-point deficit in the first half to take a five-point lead with nine minutes left before James Madison took control late.
After committing a potentially costly offensive foul, Freidel made a layup and followed with a 3-pointer with 1:24 left that gave James Madison a 77-72 lead.
In the final minute, Edwards added a jumper from just inside the 3-point arc and Bickerstaff tacked on two free throws to keep the Dukes in command.
James Madison started fast, sprinting to a 9-0 lead with Bickerstaff providing five of those points.
The Dukes stretched their lead to 16 points midway through the half. Edwards made two straight buckets and Bickerstaff scrapped for a putback layup to give James Madison a 29-13 advantage.
But Southern Illinois worked its way back into the game by driving relentlessly to the hoop and drawing fouls.
In the final seven minutes of the half, the Salukis made 11 of 12 free throws. To close the period, Johnson provided all the points in a 7-1 Southern Illinois run which sliced the deficit to 40-39.
In the second half, Johnson scored five points in an 8-0 run that gave Southern Illinois a 60-55 lead.
But James Madison answered with an 8-0 run of its own, started and finished by Edwards as the Dukes regained the lead at 63-60 with 6:50 left.
Johnson hit a 3-pointer to give the Salukis a 67-65 lead but Raekwon Horton answered with a 3 of his own to regain the lead for the Dukes, who held it the rest of the way.
Troy D'Amico finished with 12 points for Southern Illinois while Jovan Stulic had 10.
—Field Level Media