AKRON, Ohio (JMU Athletics) – Akron scored 55 points in the second half and forced 19 James Madison turnovers to pull away for an 85-71 win over the Dukes on Monday night inside James A. Rhodes Arena in the MAC-SBC Challenge.
JMU (0-1) led by nine at halftime by as many as 10 in the second half before Akron (1-0) capitalized on nine Dukes’ turnovers in the second stanza, shooting 18-of-34 (.529) from the floor to pull away for the win.
Justin McBride and Cliff Davis led JMU with 14 points each as the pair each hit four three-pointers. Freshman Preston Fowler led the Dukes with six rebounds while also knocking down a pair of triples, while classmate Christian Brown had three blocks.
Redshirt junior Paul Lewis had 12 points off the bench, the most for the guard since he had 10 against Alabama on Jan. 31, 2023, while playing at Vanderbilt.
Amani Lyles led Akron with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting while also grabbing eight boards and blocking four shots.
How It Happened
First Half: James Madison 39, Akron 30
• A McBride triple and a Douglas layup opened the scoring as the Dukes jumped out to a 5-0 lead. However, the Zips used a 15-2 run to go ahead 15-7 at the under-12 timeout.
• The Dukes battled back and tied the score at 21-21 on a three-pointer e from Davis. After Akron scored six straight to take a 27-21 lead, JMU rattled off a 13-0 run to take a 34-27 lead with 3:05 remaining in the half.
• A Paul Lewis layup gave JMU a 39-30 lead at the break, as the Dukes made six threes and shot 43.3 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.
Second Half: Akron 55, James Madison 32
• Douglas converted on a fast-break layup to make it 52-44, but quick points from Akron forced a JMU timeout with 12:24 on the clock.
• A McBride three brought Dukes to within one (65-64), but Akron scored six straight to extend its lead to 71-64.
• The Zips ended the game on a 9-0 run to pull away for the win, as the Dukes hit just 1-of-7 shots in the closing minutes.
Game Notes
• With the win, Akron evened the all-time series, 2-2.
• The Zips improved to 66-6 at home in the last five seasons.
• Davis made four three-pointers for the 23rd time in his Division I career, finishing 4-of-8 from behind the arc.
• Brown finished with three blocks, making him the first JMU freshman with at least three blocks in a game since Jerrell Roberson had three against Valley Forge on Nov. 7, 2022.
• McBride knocked down a career-high four threes, finishing 4-of-6 from behind the arc. His previous career-high was two, which he had done twice.
Up Next
The Dukes will make their 2025-26 home debut on Wednesday, Nov. 5, against Washington & Lee inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center.
— JMU Athletics —
