Swanston’s shooting helps break slump
Posted on February 7, 2008
“Were back,” said JMU junior Kyle Swanston following Wednesday night’s 73-68 win over Towson. “This is the beginning of the second half of the season.”
Whether Swanston’s words prove prophetic will be seen over the last six games of the season. But yes, “He” is back.
After suffering a first half knee injury in a loss at William & Mary on Jan. 9 the 6-foot-6 forward missed the next seven games. The Dukes won only one in that stretch and sorely missed the outside shooting ability and energy of Swanston.
In his return against Towson, Swanston provided just the swagger JMU needed to break a six-game losing streak. He connected on four of his six attempts from beyond-the-arc and allowed JMU to put legitimate back-court pressure on team for the first time in weeks.
“It helped you know cause Kyle’s an experienced guy,” senior forward Terrence Carter said. “He’s been in the program for three years…and always brings a lot of energy. By hitting them threes, it just really helped us.”
Swanston’s outside touch helped Carter especially. The Dukes captain had to play out of position after Swanston went down and was struggling to score.
It looked like much of the same in the first half as Carter had just six points and the Dukes trailed 41-25 at the break. Swanston played just six minutes in the first half, hitting his first three-pointer on his second attempt with 6:10 remaining.
The Tigers finished the half strong with C.C. Williams hitting a three right after Swanston’s. Towson shot 7-for-14 from three-point range in the first twenty minutes, led by sophomore guard Josh Thornton’s 13 points including three triples.
JMU quickly went down 19 points when Towson senior forward Jonathan Pease hit a three on the Tigers’ second possession.
The Dukes soon woke up in a big way going on an 13-0 run capped by a Terrence Carter layup with 14:21 on the clock.
Towson’s lead bounced between seven and five for the next four minutes until two consecutive three-pointers from Swanston gave JMU a one-point lead with 8:54 left.
The Tigers went just 1-for-7 from the outside in the second half and found no answer to the Dukes’ energy.
JMU freshman guard Heiden Ratner — known more for his defense — hit two three-pointers in a 10-0 run that put the Dukes ahead by 10.
Carter finished with 17 points to lead all scorers and Swanston and junior guard Abdulai Jalloh each had 16.
Jalloh, the team’s leading scorer at 15 points a game, shot 4-for-7 and ripped down a team-high eight rebounds in a more controlled style than he has played since Dukes were without a perimeter threat.
“[Jalloh] played great in the second half,” Keener said. “[Swanston] took the pressure off a lot of people.”
