Despite making a late effort in the second half, FAU’s men’s basketball team (5-4, 0-0 C-USA) lost to the James Madison Dukes (4-4) 79-70.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. FAU shot 10-30 from the field, including one out of 13 attempts from three-point range. JMU went 9-28 in the half, while missing all of its eight three-point attempts.

The second half was where the offense would begin to pick up the pace, with the Dukes striking first. While the Owls’ shooting remained cold, JMU would go up as much as 21 points with 7:42 left to go, which involved nine unanswered points to the Dukes’ benefit.

FAU eventually fought back to cut the deficit down to seven, with the late second-half effort being led by senior forward Jailyn Ingram and junior guard Michael Forrest.

Unfortunately for the Owls, they could not hold off JMU’s advances as the Dukes made 16 out of 20 shots in the second half, and got themselves to the line 22 times, scoring 14 of them.

Ingram led the Owls in scoring as he ended the game with 17 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Sophomore guard Kenan Blackshear scored 14 off the bench, while Forrest had 10 points and a rebound.

The Dukes’ best players were senior guard Matt Lewis and freshman forward Justin Amadi. Lewis finished with a game-high 19 points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Amadi scored 17 points while making all seven of his shots in the game.

The Owls will begin C-USA play on the road against Old Dominion on Jan. 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Richard Pereira is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.