SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Despite not finding the bucket for the first 4:46 of the contest, the Golden Eagles (6-0) maintained perfection behind a career-high 27 points from junior DJ Feitl as John Brown overcame a nine-point deficit to claim an 83-80 win over No. 23 Philander Smith (Ark.) tonight inside Bill George Arena.
The win marks JBUs third-consecutive win over the Panthers, dating back to last season. The loss also ended PSCs perfect season, dropping the visitors to 4-1 in the 2014-15 campaign.
“I was proud of the way we fought against this level of competition,†said head coach Jason Beschta. “We struggled early with their press and had the bulk of our turnovers in the first part of the game, but it was great to see our team rally behind each other and really take care of the basketball. Considering this was our closest game from start to finish, I was really impressed with the way our guys stepped up to the challenge.â€
Feitl stepped up to score a career-high 27 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor and buried a career-best 12 free throws on 14 opportunities. Accompanying his 27 points, Feitl also dished out a team-high three assists and secured four rebounds. Junior Griffin Brady submitted a complete game with 17 points, tying a career-high, and fell just one carom short of the double-double, finishing the game with nine rebounds. Before fouling out, senior Max Hopfgartner chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds while also recording three assists. Hopfgartner is now two points shy of eclipsing the 1,000-point mark in his career.
The Golden Eagles shot well from the floor, 47.4 percent (27-of-57), but also ran into a hot offense as the Panthers shot 32-of-63 from the field, ending with a 50.8 percent mark. However, John Brown used 13 offensive rebounds to create 10 second-chance points while out-boarding the visitors 41-33 on the evening. PSC made the Golden Eagles pay early for its miscues and posted 26 points as a result of 17 JBU turnovers.
Philander Smith jumped out to an early 6-1 lead as the hosts started the game 0-of-6 from the field and committed four turnovers. Feitls running lay-in at the 15:14 mark finally broke the streak and cut the Panther lead in half. The PSC lead grew to nine, 14-5, before senior Samson Olayemi fed Brady on the right block for a one-handed jam over two Panthers, forcing a 14-7 score. Then the Golden Eagle offense returned to form and Feitl took over the game. Down 20-15, Feitl converted 3-of-4 at the line in two possessions before knocking down his first of three triples on the night on the next possession. He wasnt done, however, as Feitl fed sophomore Nate Anderson for a score before scooping up a Panther turnover and draining his second trey of the night, capping off a 10-5 run over a 2:40 span and pulling John Brown into a 25-25 tie.
JBU finally took its first lead at the 6:40 mark when freshman Matthew Ledford drained his first shot from downtown before a pair of Brady free throws extended the margin to 32-29. Consecutive John Brown turnovers sent the lead back to the visitors, 38-35. With the half drawing to a close, freshman Jordan Green absorbed a foul with three seconds left, but still managed to sink the bucket. He finished off the old-fashioned three-point play as the Golden Eagles entered the intermission with a 40-39 lead, capping off a 10-point swing.
Five players opened the second-half scoring for the hosts, allowing JBU to start the stanza shooting 7-of-10 from the field, including a pair of triples from Feitl and Brady, opening up a game-high seven-point lead, 58-51. However, the next 2:45 would challenge the John Brown resolve when Philander Smith responded with a 13-4 run, powered by six points from Landon Carter. With a seven-point lead dissolving into a two-point deficit, the JBU defense managed to force a turnover and take a charge as freshman Zach English recorded a field goal before Feitl and Brady teamed up to go 3-of-4 from the stripe, sending the lead back to John Brown, 67-64.
The lead would change hands twice more before junior Ronalds Elksnis came up with a timely offensive rebound, cleaning up a Ledford misfire, and putting back the and-one opportunity with 6:15 left to play to tie the score at 72. JBU finally took the lead for good, 75-72, when Feitl found Ledford at the top of the arc. Ledford let go a shot that rattled around before falling for his third triple of the contest. The contest would feature two more ties, 78-78 and 80-80, respectively, until the mounting PSC fouls sent Brady and Feitl to the line. Although Brady missed the first, he sunk the second and Feitl easily poured in both attempts with 16 seconds remaining. Down 83-80, the Panthers heaved up a triple that wouldnt fall, but collected an offensive rebound. As time expired, another trey failed to fall, giving John Brown the win. Elksnis grabbed three timely defensive rebounds in the final 1:17 of play.
Three Panthers provided most of the scoring for Philander Smith as Aquill Baynard netted 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor. LaDon Carter chipped in with 22 points while Braylon Spicer went 2-of-3 from behind the arc to finish with 19.
Ledford shot 3-of-8 from long range to finish with nine points while Elksnis came off the bench to contribute six points on 2-of-2 shooting from the floor. He also grabbed six boards in the win.
The schedule wont get much easier for the Golden Eagles as it will welcome No. 4 Benedictine (Kan.) to Bill George Arena on Wednesday (Nov. 19). The second-consecutive game versus a ranked opponent will tip off at 7 p.m.
