SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Sophomore Kofi Josephs tallied a career-high 27 points as No. 14 John Brown (3-0) used its best shooting night of the young season to easily defeat Ozark Christian (Mo.), 97-70, tonight inside Bill George Arena.
Josephs' previous single-game high was a 26-point outburst at Rogers State (Okla.) on Feb. 4, 2013, but the guard used a 10-of-14 night from the field to better his career high by a single point. Josephs also went 2-of-4 from three-point range and 5-of-8 from the line in the winning effort.
As a team, the Golden Eagles notched its best shooting night of the season, landing a 39-of-58 (67.2 percent) from the field. Although JBU went 0-of-3 from long range in the first half, it would rebound by earning a 3-of-5 mark in the second stanza.
Senior Max Hopfgartner chipped in with 13 points and four rebounds while freshman Zach English easily set a career high by knocking down 11 points while grabbing a game-high six rebounds. Four Golden Eagles finished the night with six rebounds as freshman Austin Freet and senior Kurtis Phillips both pulled down the same amount, prompting JBU to a 52-31 rebounding advantage and a 21-11 difference in second-chance points.
One area of concern for head coach Clark Sheehy's squad was its 29 turnovers, a season high. The Ambassadors (0-2) converted the JBU miscues into 29 points while the Golden Eagles used only 18 Ozark Christian turnovers to land 21 points.
The Ambassadors struggled from three-point range all night long, securing just four of 19 attempts (21.1 percent) as JBU attempted an uncustomary 11 triples.
John Brown rolled in the first half to a 49-28 halftime advantage but allowed the Ambassadors to close the gap in the second half, holding just a 48-42 advantage in the final stanza.
The Golden Eagles will rest until Thursday (Nov. 7) when it entertains Central Baptist (Ark.) (0-2) at 7:00 p.m. in its first matchup against an NAIA opponent.
