Game Story; Akron 78, JMU 780

Saturday, December 6

Akron, Oh.

TBA

James Madison University

2-3

Akron

3-1

James Madison

Akron

12/6/2003 12:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

AKRON, Ohio (12/6/2003) – Akron posted a 78-70 home win as four players scored during a 12-0 second-half burst after JMU had rallied to within 32-31 late in the first half and 42-39 with 15:00 left after trailing by 10 points.

Rich McFadden's three-pointer started the Zips' 12-0 run and Jeremiah Wood's dunk gave Akron a 54-39 lead with 11:34 left. Akron got a three-pointer a minute later for a 57-42 lead and scored all but two of its 21 points during the last 10 minutes on free throws. The Zips hit on 32 of 45 free throws overall.

JMU got to within 73-68 on a three-pointer by Dwayne Broyles with 0:34 left, but Akron hit on three free throws during the next 0:14.

Broyles kept JMU close with 24 second-half points after not scoring while being charged with two first-half fouls. He had five three-pointers and a team-leading eight rebounds overall. Chris Cathlin had a career-high 15 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench and Ray Barbosa 12 points for JMU.

Derrick Tarver, who had a 44-point effort in his previous game, and Wood each had 18 points for Akron. The Zips shot 61.9 percent (13-21) from the field while taking a 39-31 halftime lead and hit on 23 of 30 free throws attempts (76.7 percent) during the second half. Akron had only seven field goals during in the final half.