Too much Pride
JMU’s defense falters in its season finale
By Tim Chapman, staff writer
Posted on February 26, 2007

On a night when the undersized JMU men’s basketball actually had an advantage in the post, it was the mismatches around the perimeter that led to a 98-78 loss to Hofstra at the Convocation Center.

Hofstra’s three-guard backcourt of seniors Loren Stokes, Carlos Rivera and redshirt-junior Antoine Agudio shot a combined 66 percent from the floor, scoring 81 points. Rivera led the way with a career-high 37 points, sinking 6-of-7 from long range. Stokes and Agudio chipped in 27 and 17, respectively.

“Carlos stepped up big,” Hofstra coach Tom Pecora said. “In his last [regular season] game and with Loren playing hurt, this really helps our confidence.”
 
The Dukes gained confidence in the post, though, as sophomore forward Juwann James and junior forward Terrence Carter combined for 44 points and 13 rebounds. The Pride was outscored 32-24 in the paint with Carter utilizing his quickness and James his girth.

Outside of Kyle Swanston, who scored 18 points, shooting 4-of-9 beyond the arc, Madison got little offensive production from its guards to counter the sharp-shooting Hofstra guards, especially in the second half.

“It got away from us because of 3-point shooting,” JMU coach Dean Keener said. “We need to be better and their strength is our weakness [in our defensive-perimeter game].”

Madison was able to stay close in the first half and trailed by only six at the break, thanks in part to Swanston’s three 3-pointers.

Carter scored on the first possession of the second half, but the deficit quickly ballooned to 10 with back-to-back triples from Stokes and Agudio. Keener was called for a technical shortly after, when Carter was whistled for an offensive foul, driving to the hoop.

“My focus coming in was to just get to the basket,” Carter said.

Carter’s charge was just one of a number of calls that the Dukes disputed as Keener was visibly annoyed with the officiating for much of the second half.

Sophomore guard Joe Posey cut the Pride’s lead back to four with 12:47 remaining on a 3-pointer. The Dukes’ best deep threat struggled to find the net for much of the night, connecting on only two of his 10 shot attempts.

“Joe’s a great shooter; he’s made about 70 threes on the season,” Swanston said of Posey’s shooting as of late.

JMU could have used Posey’s touch to help counter the Pride, who shot 15-of-24 from the 3-point line while JMU shot a miserable 27 percent on 6-of-22 shooting.

Although Madison finished the season 7-22 overall and 4-14 in conference, Keener isn’t counting his team out just yet, as they head to Richmond on Friday for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.

“We know it’s [George] Mason at 8:30, but it’s anybody’s automatic bid for the taking,” Keener said. “We won’t look ahead, we have a formidable opponent, but regardless of seed, you should be really excited.”

Mason handled JMU with ease in the two meetings between the teams this season by a combined 39 points.

The Dukes will try to change their historical trend in the CAA tournament March 2 as they have yet to advance past Day 1 in Richmond in three years.