Madison soars over Seahawks
Dukes Protect home court, penetrate to 6-0 at Convo
Posted on January 14, 2008
After losing two road conference games last week, four players reached double figures Saturday for the James Madison men’s basketball team as it cracked .500 in Colonial Athletic Association play though five games.
Madison (10-5 overall, 3-2 in the CAA) matched its conference win total from last season, increased its home record to 6-0 and beat UNC Wilmington for the first time in eight seasons with a 93-74 victory. The Dukes are now in fourth place in the CAA.
“We did what we were supposed to, and that’s win a CAA home game,” JMU coach Dean Keener said. “There’s no guarantee that we’re gonna win them all, and that’s not necessarily a goal, but we’re really trying to recreate an atmosphere at the Convo.”
JMU junior forward Juwann James was impressed by the environment at the Convocation Center.
“Since I’ve been here I think that’s the biggest crowd I’ve seen as far as students,” the preseason All-CAA selection said. “I know when I came out of the tunnel at the beginning of the game I was just surprised. I felt like we had to give them a show to watch, and hopefully they left saying that they’re gonna come to the next one.”
Madison junior guard Abdulai Jalloh led the Dukes with 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and all players who scored in double figures shot over 50 percent from the floor.
“It wasn’t easy at all,” Jalloh said of the Dukes’ success penetrating UNCW’s defense. “You guys should put on the jerseys and try to get out there. There wasn’t nothin’ easy about their defense.”
Jalloh made it appear otherwise and with the shot clock winding down near the end of the first half he controlled the ball for about 10 seconds before dissecting the Wilmington zone defense and scoring just before the buzzer.
6-foot-7 sophomore forward Dazzmond Thornton started his third game of the year for JMU and provided needed size against the Seahawks, whose frontline consists of 6-foot, 9-inch forward Todd Hendley and 6-foot-10 center Vladimir Kuljanin. James benefited from Thornton’s presence, scoring 18 points and ripping down 11 rebounds.
“You look at Juwann, I think part of the reason he was able to rebound so well was we got 27 minutes out of Dazz tonight and allowed [Juwann] to play at maybe more of a natural power forward position,” Keener said. “Early on in the preseason we felt like, boy, if [Dazz] could give us somewhere about 20 minutes a game he can really help us because he can be a low post presence.”
Thornton’s start was partially due to junior forward Kyle Swanston’s absence. Swanston suffered an avulsion fracture on his left knee. A ligament pulled part of the bone off his tibia, and it’s unknown how long he’ll be out, Keener said. Swanston is in an immobilizer and on crutches at least until he sees an orthopedist Tuesday.
JMU ran a zone defense and stifled the Seahawks in front of 4,829 raucous fans. Kuljanin scored 13 points and senior guard Daniel Fountain led UNCW with 14, but the Seahawks shot only 37 percent, while Madison shot 58 percent.
UNCW (9-8, 2-3) has four senior starters from the team that won the 2006 CAA Championship, but has struggled to adapt to second-year coach Benny Moss’ fast-paced system. Last year the Seahawks finished 7-22, while JMU posted a 7-23 record.
“The hungrier, better team won tonight,” Moss said. “You could tell the importance of this game to James Madison. They seem to get every loose ball, every key offensive rebound. We seemed to be half a step slow to those situations.”
Wilmington switched to a zone defense less than halfway through the first half to try to force JMU to play around the perimeter, but the Dukes’ backcourt stayed focused on dribble penetration. Jalloh and sophomore point guard Pierre Curtis led this attack, as Curtis added 18 points and led JMU with five assists.
“We had some screening on the ball that allowed Abdulai and Pierre to turn the corner, and they were able to find guys,” Keener said.
Madison continues conference play Wednesday at Old Dominion. The Monarchs (8-9, 3-2) lost in double overtime 81-74 at Delaware (8-7, 5-0) on Saturday.
