CEDAR HILL, Texas -- After suffering a difficult defeat to No. 2 Southwestern A.G. (Texas) on Thursday, the Golden Eagles (12-5, 2-5 SAC) battled Northwood (Texas) to eight ties in the first half, but allowed the host Knights to rally to a 23-10 run to close out the contest, falling 90-72 at Trinity Christian High School.
The loss is John Brown's second straight and the Golden Eagles have fallen in five of six contests in 2014.
Again without the services of leading scorer Kofi Josephs, Gilbert Gyamfi paced the JBU offense with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, including a career-high six triples. Three other players finished in double figures, led by Kurtis Phillips' 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals while Quinton Smith poured in 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor and a 6-of-8 effort from the line, marking his second-straight double-digit output. Max Hopfgartner earned four of his 10 points at the charity stripe and pulled down six rebounds while blocking two shots in the losing effort.
Following a first half that saw eight deadlocks, John Brown battled back to within five points, 67-62, at the 7:23 mark of the second half after a pair of free throws from Phillips and Smith. The Knights (5-9, 2-5 SAC) defense kept the Golden Eagles at bay for the remainder of the game, forcing six missed JBU attempts and prompted six John Brown turnovers, allowing the hosts to outscore the Golden Eagles 23-10 down the stretch.
The visitors committed 24 turnovers, its third-highest this season, allowing Northwood to score 23 points as a result of miscues. NU's post players dominated the post for the majority of the afternoon, landing a 42-20 advantage in the paint. The Knights also relied on 33 points from its reserves while John Brown managed just nine, seven from Zach English and two from Arty Pavlov.
JBU finished 40.0 percent from the field (22-of-55) and 30.0 percent from behind the arc (9-of-30). Northwood took five more shots and landed a 51.7 percent clip (31-of-60) from the field and 43.8 percent from three-point range (7-of-16).
The Golden Eagles will look to erase its latest losing skid when it hosts Mid-America Christian (Okla.) to an 8:00 p.m. tip-off at Bill George Arena on Thursday (Jan. 23).
