BELLEVILLE — Southwestern Illinois College freshman JaQuail Townser scored seven of his 12 points to key an early scoring run on Friday as the Blue Storm rolled past the Missouri Valley College junior varsity 71-34 at the SWIC Tournament.
Townser, a graduate of Alton, hit a pair of short jumpers and added a 3-point shot, all in the first 10 minutes, as the Blue Storm (3-0) jumped out to a big lead.
Sophomores Dylan Chatman and Trae Anderson added five points in the first half, which saw Blue Storm coach Jay Harrington go to his bench early and often.
SWIC led 39-16 at halftime.
"We're using these early games to work on some things and to get better. In the first half we had four of five things that we wanted to see in game conditions,'' Blue Storm assistant coach Steve Campo said. "At times we moved the ball better and did some things better than we did earlier in the week, but it was still choppy.''
Anderson and Chatman along with freshman Brendan Wheeler also added 12 points each for SWIC. A total of 10 players scored for the Blue Storm in the lopsided victory.
In the earlier game on Friday, St. Louis Community College edged ABCD Prep School 63-53.
Action in the tournament continues on Saturday when St. Louis Community College battles the Missouri Valley College JV at 1 p.m. and SWIC plays ABCD Prep School at 3 p.m.
SWIC is also in action on Monday when it hosts Mineral Area College. The action begins at 5:30 p.m. with the women's game followed at 7:30 p.m. by the men's game.
