AKRON, Ohio – Barry Dunning Jr. finished with a game-high 22 points and notched the third double-double of his career, but it was not enough as South Alabama men's basketball dropped their second MAC-SBC Challenge matchup to Akron 80-67 Saturday afternoon.  

The Jags battled throughout tonight's contest, shooting 45.3 percent from the field to trail by 36-30 at halftime, but Akron was red hot all night offensively, hitting 19 three-pointers, including 11 in the second half, to run away with the game in the last six minutes. 

Dunning was a menace the entire night, shooting 8-of-14 from the field with 12 rebounds to lead the way for the Jags. Elijah Ormiston stayed hot and finished with 15 points while shooting 6-of-8 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. 

Judah Brown had a dominant first half, making three triples to finish with 10 points and five rebounds. Myles Corey chipped in seven points, eight assists, and three steals. 

The Zips opened the contest on a roll, jumping out to a quick 11-5 advantage at the 15:56 mark in the first half. 

South Alabama showed toughness and rallied to take its first lead of the game. Fasoyiro and Ormiston muscled in layups, and Brown nailed a three-pointer to earn their first lead of the game, 12-11, with 14:23 on the clock. 

Both teams threw jabs back and forth as South held a lead of 21-19 with 10:04 left in the half as Corey rattled in a tough driving layup and Brown and Dunning each knocked down a three-pointer. 

Akron picked up steam and closed the first period on a 17-6 run to lead 36-30 entering halftime. 

After Akron extended their lead to double digits out of the half, Dunning started to take over for the Jags as he knocked down a jumper and a fastbreak jump to pull the score within four points, 41-37, at the 17:29 mark in the game. 

The game shifted in the next three possessions as the Zips drained three straight corner three-pointers to jump out to a 50-37 lead at the under-16 media timeout. 

South Alabama did not give in and cut the deficit down to single digits at the 12:30 mark, but Akron answered with a dominant spurt of 14-5 jump ahead to a 69-54. The Zips did not stop there and earned its largest lead of 80-55 with 3:55 left on the clock to put the game away. 

Notes

• Dunning matched his career-high in scoring and registered his third double-double of the season – the second in the last three games. 
• Corey surpassed the 100-assist mark in tonight's game and has tallied 106 this season. 
• After shooting a season-high 53.6 percent from three last game, the Jags faltered tonight, shooting 27.1 percent from three-point range. 
• South Alabama won the battle in the paint, scoring 30 points compared to Akron's 16. 

Up Next

The Jags will return to conference play at home on Thursday, Feb.13 at 7 p.m. CT before taking on Texas State at the Mitch on Saturday, Feb.15 at 3 p.m. CT. 

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