JMU Duke Dog
December 21st, 2005, 07:52 AM
http://www.dnronline.com/sports_details.php?AID=2139&CHID=3
Dukes Try To End Slide
JMU plays Youngstown State tonight.
By Dustin Dopirak
It was at about this time last year that everything started to unravel for the James Madison basketball team.
Riding a two-game losing streak going into final exams, the Dukes lost senior guard Daniel Freeman to a foot injury, then dropped three straight games on the road before returning to the Convocation Center.
Not that coming home mattered. JMU promptly suffered humbling losses to Howard and High Point before the start of conference play. By the time the slump ended, coach Dean Keener’s squad had lost nine straight to fall to 2-9 en route to a fifth straight losing record.
Once again this season, the Dukes (2-4) come off the exam break on a three-game losing streak with a chance to either rejuvenate themselves or continue their slide. They visit non-conference foe Youngstown State (2-6) at 7:30 p.m. today at the Beeghly Center.
"This is probably one of the biggest games of the year," freshman guard Colbey Santos said. "It’s time to start turning the program around."
It appeared early in the season that JMU was starting to do that. After losing a surprisingly close game to Georgetown, a potential NCAA Tournament team out of the Big East, the Dukes beat Virginia Military Institute, then Southern Conference contender Appalachian State in a double-overtime epic. JMU then took Colonial Athletic Association foe Northeastern, a potential conference title contender, to the wire before losing 86-83.
But the two losses since have been ugly. A 70-58 loss to La Salle on Dec. 11 followed a 68-57 defeat to Drexel on Dec. 7. Those left the Dukes wondering how much progress they’ve made since their 6-22 campaign last season.
"We haven’t proven anything," Santos said. "People keep telling us we’re doing better, but I don’t think we’ve done anything. I see us every day in practice and I know what we can be if we play like we do there. If we play like we did in the first game, we’ll be a tough team."
Performances like their early ones would appear to give the Dukes a good shot in their next two games, which seem to be among the most winnable on the schedule. After playing the struggling Penguins tonight, JMU faces Yale (4-4), a middling Ivy League squad in the first round of the Flint Hill Islander Invitational Tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Dec. 29. The next night, the Dukes play either Texas A&M-Corpus Christi or Savannah State, depending on the outcome of the first-round games.
After that, however, the Dukes host Atlantic Coast Conference foe Virginia Tech on Jan. 2. To be at .500 when conference play starts in earnest on Jan. 5 with a date at Hofstra, the Dukes have to win at least three of those four games.
"It’s a momentum changer," senior point guard Jomo Belfor said of tonight’s game. "If we get a couple of wins and get back to .500 before conference play, that would be a great help for us."
The quest begins tonight against a team Keener compares to his own as a program in transition in a strong mid-level conference.
Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum is in his first year at the helm of the Horizon League school, taking over for former coach John Robic, who hadn’t won as many as 10 games in a season since going 19-10 in 2000-01. Slocum’s Penguins have been competitive in each of their games this season but without much to show for it.
Until their most recent game, a 72-51 victory over Duquesne, the Penguins’ only win was over Slippery Rock, a Division II school.
"They’ve actually played very well, but it hasn’t shown in the end result," Keener said. "They’ve just kind of let it slip away for whatever reason. We know they’re going to play hard and they’re very capable."
Quin Humphrey, a junior guard, is the Penguins’ star. The 6-foot-4, 194-pounder leads the Horizon League in scoring with 17.9 points per game. He also is second in the conference in rebounds with 8.8 per contest, and averages 2.5 assists per game. He has recorded four double-doubles this season.
Junior guard Keston Roberts also averages double figures for the Penguins, scoring 15.0 points per game.
The Dukes have five players with at least 10 points per game. Freshman forward Juwann James leads the team with 14.2 points per contest.
Although his players recognize the importance of this game to the team’s momentum, Keener said things are simpler than that.
"We just need to win, period," Keener said. "The program needs to win. There’s no hiding that fact. So to say that [today’s] game or the next week or two weeks are any more critical than anything else, no. Every game is big for everybody just to feel good about themselves. … We just need to win."
Dukes Try To End Slide
JMU plays Youngstown State tonight.
By Dustin Dopirak
It was at about this time last year that everything started to unravel for the James Madison basketball team.
Riding a two-game losing streak going into final exams, the Dukes lost senior guard Daniel Freeman to a foot injury, then dropped three straight games on the road before returning to the Convocation Center.
Not that coming home mattered. JMU promptly suffered humbling losses to Howard and High Point before the start of conference play. By the time the slump ended, coach Dean Keener’s squad had lost nine straight to fall to 2-9 en route to a fifth straight losing record.
Once again this season, the Dukes (2-4) come off the exam break on a three-game losing streak with a chance to either rejuvenate themselves or continue their slide. They visit non-conference foe Youngstown State (2-6) at 7:30 p.m. today at the Beeghly Center.
"This is probably one of the biggest games of the year," freshman guard Colbey Santos said. "It’s time to start turning the program around."
It appeared early in the season that JMU was starting to do that. After losing a surprisingly close game to Georgetown, a potential NCAA Tournament team out of the Big East, the Dukes beat Virginia Military Institute, then Southern Conference contender Appalachian State in a double-overtime epic. JMU then took Colonial Athletic Association foe Northeastern, a potential conference title contender, to the wire before losing 86-83.
But the two losses since have been ugly. A 70-58 loss to La Salle on Dec. 11 followed a 68-57 defeat to Drexel on Dec. 7. Those left the Dukes wondering how much progress they’ve made since their 6-22 campaign last season.
"We haven’t proven anything," Santos said. "People keep telling us we’re doing better, but I don’t think we’ve done anything. I see us every day in practice and I know what we can be if we play like we do there. If we play like we did in the first game, we’ll be a tough team."
Performances like their early ones would appear to give the Dukes a good shot in their next two games, which seem to be among the most winnable on the schedule. After playing the struggling Penguins tonight, JMU faces Yale (4-4), a middling Ivy League squad in the first round of the Flint Hill Islander Invitational Tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Dec. 29. The next night, the Dukes play either Texas A&M-Corpus Christi or Savannah State, depending on the outcome of the first-round games.
After that, however, the Dukes host Atlantic Coast Conference foe Virginia Tech on Jan. 2. To be at .500 when conference play starts in earnest on Jan. 5 with a date at Hofstra, the Dukes have to win at least three of those four games.
"It’s a momentum changer," senior point guard Jomo Belfor said of tonight’s game. "If we get a couple of wins and get back to .500 before conference play, that would be a great help for us."
The quest begins tonight against a team Keener compares to his own as a program in transition in a strong mid-level conference.
Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum is in his first year at the helm of the Horizon League school, taking over for former coach John Robic, who hadn’t won as many as 10 games in a season since going 19-10 in 2000-01. Slocum’s Penguins have been competitive in each of their games this season but without much to show for it.
Until their most recent game, a 72-51 victory over Duquesne, the Penguins’ only win was over Slippery Rock, a Division II school.
"They’ve actually played very well, but it hasn’t shown in the end result," Keener said. "They’ve just kind of let it slip away for whatever reason. We know they’re going to play hard and they’re very capable."
Quin Humphrey, a junior guard, is the Penguins’ star. The 6-foot-4, 194-pounder leads the Horizon League in scoring with 17.9 points per game. He also is second in the conference in rebounds with 8.8 per contest, and averages 2.5 assists per game. He has recorded four double-doubles this season.
Junior guard Keston Roberts also averages double figures for the Penguins, scoring 15.0 points per game.
The Dukes have five players with at least 10 points per game. Freshman forward Juwann James leads the team with 14.2 points per contest.
Although his players recognize the importance of this game to the team’s momentum, Keener said things are simpler than that.
"We just need to win, period," Keener said. "The program needs to win. There’s no hiding that fact. So to say that [today’s] game or the next week or two weeks are any more critical than anything else, no. Every game is big for everybody just to feel good about themselves. … We just need to win."