Sunday was a new day for Vado Morse. It might also signal a new era for James Madison.

The Dukes, dead last in the Colonial Athletic Association a year ago, pulled off a weekend split on the road at Northeastern, topping the league-leading Huskies 79-72 on Sunday.

Morse, who missed nine of his 10 shot attempts in the loss Saturday, was nearly unstoppable 24 hours later. The transfer from Mount St. Mary’s scored a career-high 30 points, going 10-for-18 from the field, and JMU (7-5, 2-1 CAA) needed him as an answer to Northeastern sophomore Tyson Walker, who scored 30 for the Huskies (8-6, 7-1).

“We beat a good team,” JMU coach Mark Byington said Sunday. “Hopefully that gives us confidence and shows the guys that their work is working. This is good to validate to the players that we are heading in the right direction. I’m really proud of Vado’s response. He was terrible yesterday and phenomenal today. I’m encouraged that the guys are coachable and want to get better.”

Four Dukes scored in double figures, including Matt Lewis - who finished with 16 and hit a 3-pointer for the 49th consecutive game to keep alive the longest streak in Division I. Freshman point guard Terell Strickland finished with five points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Since Bill Coen took over the Northeastern program prior to the 2006-2007 season, the Huskies have won more games than any other team in the CAA and have played in the conference title game each of the past three seasons with an NCAA Tournament trip in 2019. This season, Northeastern appeared to be on the verge of running away with the regular-season crown, winning its first seven CAA games.

JMU, on the flip side, had the fewest victories of any team in the league over the past four seasons and won just two CAA games last year, leading to the coaching change that ushered in Byington and a wave of newcomers including Morse. James Madison hadn’t defeated the Huskies in Boston since 2016, but this JMU squad came back from a tough loss a day earlier with a response not often seen from the Dukes in recent seasons.

“I said it last week, credit to the coaching staff,” Lewis said. “They put together a good squad that gelled together and helps everybody out. Today, Vado had a good game, but I think other guys stepped up. It was a total team effort and Vado had a good game to carry us.”

After an ice-cold afternoon on Saturday, Morse sparked the JMU offense in the first half on Sunday. With the Northeastern defense focused on taking away good looks for the CAA’s leading scorer, Lewis, Morse hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 first-half points as the Dukes built a 14-point halftime lead.

Predictably, the Huskies had no plans to roll over or play dead. Northeastern scored on its first four possessions of the second half and before long cut the JMU lead to four points. But Morse remained hot to help the Dukes keep hold of the lead. By the time Michael Christmas nailed a deep 3 and Morse hit a driving bucket through contact, JMU’s lead was again double digits, 57-47, with 12 minutes remaining.

Morse and Walker continued to match each other nearly bucket for bucket. The Northeastern sophomore completed a 3-point play that helped the Huskies rally back to within four. Then Morse answered with another trey, making it a 70-63 JMU lead with less than five minutes to go.

“Matt and other teammates are there for me to get me settled,” Morse said. “Yesterday was a little rough for me. We went to the (scouting report) and my teammates made sure I was mentally prepared for this game and that helped out a lot.”

The Dukes made the necessary plays down the stretch, getting four straight free throws from Lewis and a breakaway layup from Justin Amadi, who finished with 11 points and five rebounds.

JMU is scheduled to play at home on Wednesday against Towson, a team the Dukes beat on the road Jan. 16 as Lewis scored 30 points.