KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Behind sophomore Zach Englishs quartet of triples and 28 points from Golden Eagle reserves, John Brown (7-1) avoided consecutive losses by holding Avila (Mo.) to 49 points and 35.1 percent shooting on its home court en route to a 67-49 victory this afternoon inside Mabee Fieldhouse.
Avilas (3-3) 49 points proved to be a season low by far. Its previous lowest output was in an 89-62 loss to Concordia (Neb.) back on Nov. 8. The Eagles entered the contest shooting an average of 40.6 percent from the floor until John Brown held the hosts to a 20-of-57 effort from the floor. Although it committed 21 turnovers in the win, the JBU defense forced 20 Avila turnovers and, more important, converted the Eagle miscues into 14 points while limiting Avila to just five points as a result of turnovers.
“For a game that we had way too many turnovers, our defense was the constant of the day,†admitted head coach Jason Beschta. “Our defense was the best its been all year. To keep a team like Avila to just 49 points and 35 percent shooting in their own gym was really big for us. Our scouting reports proved to be very helpful in keeping their second-leading scorer to a 1-of-10 mark from the floor, so thats another reason to be really pleased.
“Weve been talking about it in practice recently, but our benchs effort today was great to see. We now know that we can get that kind of output from our reserves and help take some of the load off our starting five. Zach was really big for us with four triples as was Julian and Jordan coming off the bench. Ronald gave us eight big points and his rebounding effort was fantastic. Overall, a great team win and an even better defensive effort.â€
The effort from the reserves was featured by Englishs four triples, three of which came in the first half, helping John Brown build an early 14-6 lead. Freshman Julian Erickson and junior Ronalds Elksnis provided a big boost off the bench as the two poured in eight points apiece, including a pair of triples from Erickson as his output tied a career high. Elksnis pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and freshman Jordan Green dished out a game-high four assists in just 12 minutes.
The John Brown reserves racked up 76 minutes of playing time and out-scored the Avila bench, 28-14.
For the third game in a row, junior DJ Feitl scored a team-high 15 points, highlighted by a 7-of-7 effort at the stripe and a 2-of-3 mark behind the arc. Junior Griffin Brady and senior Max Hopfgartner also contributed eight points apiece in the win.
Avila scored the games first points at the 19:20 mark to take a 2-0 lead, but Feitl finished off a Brady steal with a triple, handing JBU the first lead of the game and the advantage for the entire rest of the contest. English caught fire from long range and buried three triples in a 2:31 span, elevating John Brown to a 14-6 advantage. Working through a 3:12 drought without a field goal, the visitors kept the Eagles at bay until Ericksons trey at the 5:51 mark broke the drought and gave John Brown a 13-point lead, 23-10. The lead ballooned to as many as 15, 31-16, but back-to-back AU triples near the halfs end forced JBU into just a 10-point lead at the intermission, 34-24.
Avilas Sedrick Johnson converted an and-one play at the 17:10 mark to cap off a 9-2 rally, pulling the hosts within four, 37-33. Elksnis third shot attempt on the next possession finally fell and neither team was able to score over the next 3:26 until Feitls old-fashioned three-pointer pushed the lead back to nine, 42-33. The play seemed to jump-start the Golden Eagle offense as Erickson and Brady hit consecutive treys to return the lead to 12. Although Avila trimmed the margin to eight twice, Elksnis began a 7-0 run at the 7:53 mark which was followed by Englishs fourth triple of the game and a Hopfgartner bucket from Green to rebuild a 15-point advantage. The lead finally reached a game-high 18 after Feitl knocked down both attempts from the line with 26 seconds left in the game.
Johnson scored a game-high 23 points for AU, but the John Brown defense held the other four Avila starters to a combined 12 points. DVante Lewis and Aaron Ward came off the Eagle bench to contribute six points each in the loss. Keith Taylor secured a team-high nine rebounds and Brandon Murillo passed out a squad-best four assists.
JBU will break until Tuesday (Nov. 25) when it hosts Williams Baptist (Ark.) at Bill George Arena at 7 p.m.
