As far as preseason tuneups go, it wasn’t an especially pretty one Saturday for James Madison as the Dukes welcomed crosstown opponent Eastern Mennonite for a final exhibition before Wednesday’s season opener against Charlotte.

JMU eventually stretched the lead to 20 points late in the game before finishing off an 80-65 victory, but didn’t shoot particularly well from the field or the free throw line. The Dukes went 6 for 26 from behind the 3-point arc and made just 58 percent of their foul shots.

“For our guys, it’s really about knocking the cobwebs off,” JMU coach Louis Rowe said. “It was the first time to play in front of family, friends and JMU fans. It was the first time really on the home court to play a different offense and a different defense. We have a lot to get better at, but what I don’t want is for us to have bad body language.”

Zach Jacobs led the way for JMU with 21 points on 80-percent shooting and 13 rebounds. Tim Jones scored 17 points to lead EMU. Fort Defiance High School product and West Virginia Tech transfer Josh Whelan added four points and 12 rebounds for the Royals.

“This is one of the best games we have all year,” Eastern Mennonite coach Melvin Felix said. “It’s a community game. Our fans love it and the crowd comes out and supports both schools. For our guys to play on a D-I floor, it’s just a great opportunity.”

But exhibitions such as the one Saturday afternoon inside the Convocation Center are often more about fuel for speculation than confirmation, and some of James Madison’s lesser-heralded players tossed kindling on the fire as the Dukes get ready to begin a crucial fourth season with Rowe as head coach of his alma mater.

Sure, JMU’s junior trio of Matt Lewis, Darius Banks and Dwight Wilson could have shot better — they combined to go 10-for-30 from the field and 1-for-12 from 3-point range. But they, along with sophomore point guard Deshon Parker, proved themselves last season in games that counted.

For the Dukes, picked fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association with three first-place votes in the preseason poll, to become a winning program, they’ll need significant contributions elsewhere and there were plenty of hints Saturday where they might come from.

“The coaches have confidence in all of us,” Jacobs said. “I like the way we are playing fast, running up and down the floor. We did that a lot in high school so I think it will be good as a whole for all of us.”

Consistent offseason buzz Jacobs had taken large strides in the new up tempo offense was supported by his performance off the bench. The junior big man was effective inside, but also had half of the Dukes’ made 3-pointers.

Freshman guard Jayvis Harvey was a poised and steady influence on the offense, scoring six points and showing he might be able to play spot minutes at the point guard spot.

“Zach played awesome and some of the freshmen showed glimpses,” Rowe said. “That’s what this is about. To get guys live bullets and get guys so they can see what a college game is about.”

With fellow first-year Michael Christmas joining what Rowe has called his “Big Four” in the starting lineup Saturday, another freshman, Julien Wooden, filled out an eight-man rotation with redshirt freshman Devon Flowers out nursing an injury. Rowe said it should not keep Flowers out of Wednesday’s opener, but in his absence, Wooden also looked comfortable in the offense, though each freshmen also had his moments caught out of position on defense.

All in all, anyone looking for major clues what to expect Wednesday when JMU takes on the 49ers needed to squint hard for anything resembling an earth-shattering revelation.

“We won the game,” Rowe said. “I’m glad there is a lot we can teach from this. It could have been worse. We could have lost.”