HARRISONBURG, Va., Feb. 7, 2009 – Senior forward Kyle Swanston (Spring Hill, Fla./Worcester Academy) had 19 points as James Madison pulled out a 68-66 win in the final minute over George Mason in a Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.

JMU improved to 16-9 overall and 8-5 in the CAA with its third straight victory.  The Dukes snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Patriots and assured themselves no worse than a .500 record for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.  GMU fell to 16-7 overall and 9-4 in the league.

Swanston finished with 19 points following his 23-point effort on Wednesday at Georgia State.  He hit five of 11 three-point field goals.  Junior forward Dazzmond Thornton (Denver, Colo./East) had 13 points, six rebounds, and matched his career high with 29 minutes while playing as JMU’s primary post presence due to injuries and foul trouble.

Freshman guard Devon Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) added 11 points for the Dukes while hitting three of four free throws in the final minute to seal the win.  Sophomore guard Ben Louis (Melbourne, Australia/St. Francis Xavier) had a balanced stat line with career highs of five assists and four steals along with five points and five boards.

John Vaughan led Mason with 19 points.  Darryl Monroe was the only other Patriot in double figures with 13 points, four boards, and four assists.

JMU built its largest margin at 44-30 with 15:35 remaining in the game.  The Dukes still led by 10 at 57-47 with 7:40 left when the Patriots went on a 13-0 run, holding JMU scoreless for over three minutes to take a 60-57 lead with 4:41 remaining. 

JMU recovered to take the lead on a Thornton post move and a pair of foul shots by Moore.  Mason reclaimed the lead briefly on a Monroe jumper, but Thornton made it an even trade on post moves by the opposing big men to give the Dukes the lead for good at 63-62 with 2:35 remaining.

Following a GMU turnover, junior guard Pierre Curtis (Denver, Colo./East) connected on a pair of JMU free throws.  Vaughan followed with a pair of free throws to keep the margin at one.  The teams traded missed field goals before Moore again hit two free throws with 1:07 remaining.

Andre Cornelius missed a three-point jumper on Mason’s ensuing possession, but Thornton missed a pair of free throws after getting fouled on the rebound to keep the door open for the Patriots. 

Ryan Pearson then missed a jumper for GMU and Cam Long also failed to connect on a follow-up three pointer before Vaughan hit a jumper with just four seconds remaining to make it 67-66. 

Moore hit one of two free throws with 2.6 seconds left and Pearson’s three-quarter court heave at the buzzer did not connect to seal the 68-66 JMU win.

Mason built a quick 6-0 lead off the opening tip and the teams then traded leads with four ties.  The Dukes went on a 7-0 run with 8:43 left to take a 25-18 advantage at the 7:07 mark.  JMU went on to lead 30-26 at the half.

JMU will be on the road on Wednesday in a CAA clash at VCU at 7:30 p.m.

NOTE: Moore and freshmen forwards Julius Wells (Toledo, Ohio/Libbey) and Andrey Semenov (St. Petersburg, Russia/Blue Ridge School) combined for 24 points to make this year’s freshman class, along with guard Scott Renkin (Richmond, Va./Clover Hill), the highest-scoring first-year class in JMU’s Division I history with a total of 739 points.  The 1976-77 freshman class scored 733 points.