In its 88-78 opening night loss, as part of the Mid-American Conference vs. Sun Belt Conference Challenge, Ohio (0-1) suffered major imbalances against James Madison (1-0).
The primary imbalance came on the glass, as the Bobcats were outrebounded by the Dukes 41 to 23, including a 13 to 6 difference on the offensive glass. Ohio’s size was a major contributor to the discrepancy, not playing anybody over 6-foot-9.
The Dukes on the other hand, employed two players who are nearly 7-feet tall, seniors Elijah Hutchins-Everett and Ebenezer Dowuona, who contributed 12 of the team’s rebounds.
The second discrepancy was time in front. James Madison led for 36 minutes and 32 seconds of the game’s 40 total minutes. Ohio got out to an early 8-4 lead, with 4 points apiece from starting guards Shereef Mitchell and Jackson Paveletzke, but the offense began to stall.
What followed was a 13-0 run from the Dukes, led by junior Xavier Brown who pitched in a career-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting. The Bobcats did a good job forcing turnovers from their opponents, but it oftentimes failed to equate to offense, as it took just over 10 minutes for the team to score more than 10 points.
James Madison would hold its lead for the remainder of the game, stretching it to 19 points twice in the second half, despite Ohio having some of its best offensive stretches during the period.
For Ohio, it was a split effort scoring the ball with four players -- Mitchell and Paveletzke, as well as AJ Brown and Aidan Hadaway; contributing double-digit points. Hadaway led the way with 17 points, followed by Paveletzke’s 16 in his debut, while Mitchell and Brown both contributed 14 points.
Toward the end of the first half, Ohio would start to see the light as Brown contributed 5 quick points to cut the James Madison lead to 39-24. Hutchins-Everett and Paveletzke would trade layups as the half closed, the Dukes leading 41-26.
The second half showed the Bobcats at their best. Hadaway soared for a layup to net the half’s first points and senior AJ Clayton got his first points at the free throw line. Clayton, Ohio’s Preseason All-Mid-American Conference First Team selectee, had a quiet opener, scoring 8 points on 1-of-6 shooting.
The Bobcats’ second-half onslaught continued, with Brown draining another three as part of his 5-of-5 night from the field, and Hadaway once again finished at the rim, cutting the Dukes’ lead to 43-36.
James Madison redshirt senior and Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team selectee Mark Freeman cut the run with a 3-pointer, followed by a Dowuona layup, but Brown would convert on an and-one to keep the game within single-digit points.
The Dukes would continue to dominate on the glass. Despite playing great defense on many of James Madison's first efforts, Ohio could not secure possessions on the boards, giving the home team opportunity after opportunity to put points on the board.
Up until there were under 10 minutes left in the game, the James Madison lead flopped back and forth from 6 to 13 points, Ohio playing its best offense while James Madison controlled the glass.
In the final 10 minutes, the Dukes would separate too far. Ohio would begin to tire defensively, giving James Madison easy points at the free-throw line. Hutchins-Everett scored 7 of the Dukes' points on an 11-4 run to extend its lead to 19 with just over five minutes remaining, and from there the Bobcats had fallen too far behind.
A desperate offense led by Paveletzke cut the lead to as little as 7 points, but timely shots from Brown and Freeman kept the Bobcats at bay.
Ohio will look to bounce back in its home opener against UNC Asheville Saturday at 7 p.m.
