Dukes go cold in loss to Tigers
Towson too much to handle as JMU loses
By Tim Chapman, staff writer
Posted on February 1, 2007

The JMU men’s basketball team’s shooting woes continued in Monday’s loss to Towson, as the Tigers beat the Dukes 69-60 in the Convocation Center.

Losses used to be blamed on the Dukes’ defense, as they have allowed opponents to shoot an average of 41 percent from 3-point range and struggled to match up in the post. However, after finding balance in the last five games in a 2-3 zone, JMU’s problem has shifted to the offensive end of the floor.

In Madison’s latest three-game skid, it shot just 40.4 percent from the field and 23 percent from beyond the arc.

JMU out-rebounded its opponents by 10, limiting the Tigers to only five second-chance points, only to shoot 5-of-25 from long-range as a team.

“We get a lot of good looks,” JMU sophomore guard Kyle Swanston said. “We’re just having a hard time having our shots fall.”

The Dukes jumped out to an 11-3 lead 5:32 into the game and held the lead for all but 1:35 of the first half. However, with five seconds remaining, Towson junior forward Jonathan Pease hit a 3-pointer to take a 27-26 halftime lead.

“I thought our defense was good enough, [to win], ” JMU coach Dean Keener said.

The second year of experience helped Swanston, who was assigned to guard the nation’s fifth-leading scorer, Towson senior guard Gary Neal (27.8 ppg). Monday, Neal racked up a game-high 21 points despite Swanston’s defensive efforts.

“I thought [Swanston] had the athleticism and length,” Keener said. “We wanted to have a body on him at all times.”

Junior forward Terrence Carter led the Dukes with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Foul trouble kept sophomore forward Juwann James off the floor for much of the night, making it harder for the already undersized tandem to establish any post-presence. James finished with just seven points and two rebounds.

“Sometimes a guy gets a touch foul or an illegal screen or sometimes [James] is fighting for position real hard,” Carter said. “It’s just us trying to work.”

After the Towson lead went to 14 points in the second half, Carter put in a second-chance lay-up. On the next play, Swanston intercepted a pass and took it in for a one-handed dunk.

However, the momentum was short-lived. After a defensive strip, three JMU players went after it on the floor, but the ball bounced to Towson, who capitalized with a lay-up and foul, and led by 10 or more until the last minute.

“That’s just how the game goes,” Swanston said. “They dove on the floor, we dove on the floor, somebody’s got to come up with it.”