FT. WORTH, Texas -- Kofi Josephs netted a career-high 33 points while Zach English also added a personal best 17, but the No. 7 Golden Eagles (11-2, 1-2 SAC) were outscored 15-7 in overtime as Texas Wesleyan upset John Brown 99-91 this afternoon at the Sid Richardson Center in conference play.
Josephs converted 7-of-15 chances from long range, also a personal best, and finished 9-of-19 from the floor while collecting three rebounds and a team-high six assists. Three other Golden Eagles finished in double-digits including Max Hopfgartner's first double-double of the season. Hopfgartner connected on 8-of-13 from the field, including a pair of triples, and pulled down a game and career-high 14 rebounds. English earned his career-high on two treys, three field goals and five charity stripe makes. Finally, Kurtis Phillips chipped in with 15 points, four assists and three long-range buckets.
After English's triple setup back-to-back treys from Josephs to pull John Brown within two, 24-22, Hopfgartner and Josephs teamed up for another pair of triples, sending the Golden Eagles to its first lead of the game, 32-30, at the 4:31 mark of the first half. Hopfgartner took over the final minutes of the first stanza, recording five points over the final 3:42 to vault John Brown to a 40-32 halftime lead. The JBU defense finished the first half allowing only one Ram field goal over the final 7:31 of the first half, pushing John Brown onto a 17-4 rally at the break.
At 15:36 of the second half, English's deep basket sent TWU into a nine-point hole, 52-43, and back-to-back three-pointers from Josephs was followed by an emphatic Hopfgartner slam, extending the Golden Eagle lead to 15, 64-49. However, a 19-5 surge from the hosts over a 4:55 span extinguished the visitors' lead to just one, 69-68, until Josephs stepped up again with another three-point bucket, stemming the Ram rally. After a Texas Wesleyan turnover, Phillips converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 4:43 remaining.
The Golden Eagles were limited to just two field goals over the final 4:43, allowing the upset-minded Rams to rally to a 16-9 run to close regulation. A pair of English free throws with 21 second left tied the score after TWU momentarily seized control of the game in the final minute.
Unfortunately, the Golden Eagle shooting went cold in the overtime frame as John Brown committed two costly turnovers early and finished 1-of-9 in the extra five minutes of playing time, affording the Rams to outscore the visitors 15-7.
For the third consecutive game, John Brown finished above the 50.0 percent mark from the field, knocking down 29-of-57 (50.9 percent), including a season-high 14 three-pointers on a season-most 34 attempts (41.2 percent). The Rams out-rebounded JBU 36-29 and dominated the paint, outscoring the Golden Eagles 44-28 down low.
For the first time since December 2012, the Golden Eagles have lost consecutive games, however, John Brown responded to its last two-game skid by rattling off 14 wins over the next 16 games and captured its first-ever Sooner Athletic Conference regular season championship.
JBU will continue its play on the road on Thursday (Jan. 9) when it takes on Oklahoma City at Abe Lemons Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
