Men’s basketball burns Georgia State for first road win of season
Defeat of ODU sparks JMU to back-to-back wins
Posted on January 22, 2007

The Dean Keener-era as JMU’s men’s basketball coach has been marked by an absence of that one big “turn the corner” win. A win where it’s been evident that the team was still hearing its head coach and hadn’t quit on him.

Last year they came close when they battled Georgetown down to the end, and this season they gave Wake Forest all they could handle but in both cases the team fell short in the end.

That all changed last Wednesday when the Dukes rallied to outscore Old Dominion 51-39 in the second half on their way to beating the Monarchs 72-65.

“We showed some real good focus and energy to compete,” Keener said. “I think part of it was our defense was better but we we’re able to keep pace with some good offense.”

ODU came into the game with a 12-5 record overall and a 5-1 conference record and has now dropped two straight after the loss to the Dukes and another loss to Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday. The two losses have dropped the Monarchs from a tie for second in the Colonial Athletic Association to fourth behind VCU, Hofstra and Drexel.

“Give the kids some credit they really grew up tonight and did what they wanted to do, “ Keaner said.

Junior forward Terrence Carter led everyone with 20 points and 11 rebounds and he helped propel the Dukes from an eight-point second-half deficit to overcome an ODU team that handled JMU easily in Norfolk 70-57 earlier this season.

The Monarchs held a 42-34 lead with 12:23 left in the game, when the Dukes stole the momentum with a 16-0 fun sparked by Carter’s seven points, including a 3-pointer to put JMU up 50-42. 

“It feels good to finally get a big win under our belt, especially against a veteran team,” Carter said.

The Dukes were able to hold off Old Dominion down the stretch by doing something that had been a real struggle for the Dukes over the last two seasons — hitting their free throws.  Madison hit on 16-20 as they held off all Monarchs’ attempts to climb back into the lead.

“Fourteen of 18 in the last three minutes, that’s a key when you have a lead of six,” Keener said.

JMU had three others score in double figures, including 10 points from sophomore forward Kyle Swanston, 15 from sophomore forward Juwann James and 13 from freshman point guard Pierre Curtis.

The Monarchs forward Vasylius Valdas had 15 points and three rebounds.  They also had four players in double figures, getting 12 from guard Drew Williamson, 12 from guard Marsharee Nelly and 11 from guard Brian Henderson.

“It’s a big game, but we need to build off this,” Carter said. “It’s not like we just beat Duke for the national championship.”

Madison carried the momentum from upsetting ODU into a second-straight victory, this time going on the road to beat Georgia State. The Dukes now sit at 6-12 overall, 3-5 in the CAA.

Carter, who had 20 points and nine rebounds, led the Dukes for a second-straight game. James contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds and Curtis scored 11 points and distributed three assists.

The first half was tightly contested as the Dukes and Panthers battled back and forth before JMU ended the half with a 29-27 lead.  Early in the second half the Panthers tied it at 29-29 but would never over-take the JMU, as they went on an 8-2 run and would never let the lead close to less than three the rest of the way.