LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Hanging onto a narrow two-point lead early in the second half, the Golden Eagles (10-3) stumbled again down the stretch and was held to one field goal for a 7:39 span as Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) built a 10-point cushion en route to an 81-64 win tonight over John Brown in the first game of the Philander Smith (Ark.) Classic at Mims Gymnasium.
Junior DJ Feitl paced JBU with a team-high 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor, including a 3-of-4 mark from behind the arc. Junior Griffin Brady notched his first-career double-double by setting a career-high 12 rebounds to accompany 10 points. Senior Max Hopfgartner sank 6-of-10 opportunities from the line and finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
Lindsey Wilsons Julian Edmonson scored a game-high 27 points on a game-high 18 shot attempts. Five of his nine field goals came from behind the arc. Kevin Bradshaw chipped in with nine points and 10 boards while Keshaun Mayfield came off the bench to net 13 points, five rebounds and a trio of assists.
The Blue Raider (8-6) bench out-scored the Golden Eagle reserves 34-7 in the loss as John Brown was without the services of Ronalds Elksnis. JBU committed 13 turnovers in the loss, compared to seven by LWC. The Golden Eagles managed to grab 12 offensive rebounds, translating into 14 second-chance points, but the Blue Raiders converted the 13 JBU miscues into 11 more shot attempts, hoisting up 71 compared to John Browns 60.
"We battled hard in the first half, played good defense and made some nice plays on offense," said head coach Jason Beschta. "In the second half, we were a different team without the same energy and grit. Lindsey Wilson came out and played harder than us in and finished plays. We left a lot of points out there with missed shots, layups, free throws and too many turnovers.
"We have to be 'us' for an entire game and not try to match the style of our opponent. We need to remember what it is that sets us apart, what it is that we can hang our hat on. That was a national tournament-caliber team we played, and it showed us how hard we have to play and at what level in order to be a tournament team ourselves."
After six ties early in the first half, a triple from freshman Julian Erickson handed the visitors a three-point lead, 16-13. A brief 7-4 run by John Brown, featuring field goals from Feitl, Brady and Hopfgartner, built the Golden Eagles largest lead of the game, six, 23-17. Five points from LWCs Bradshaw pulled the designated home team to within one, 30-29, with 2:09 remaining in the first half.
Feitl responded with a field goal on the next possession, but five points from Julian Edmonson over the final stretch of the first half, including the halfs final field goal to pull Lindsey Wilson even with the Golden Eagles, 34-34, at the intermission.
As both squads traded points in the early portions of the second half, Feitl knocked down another timely trey, giving JBU its first lead of the second half at the 18:21 mark, 41-39. After Feitl answered a LWC field goal with one of his own, the Golden Eagles fell into a scoring slump. Over the next 7:39, John Brown converted on only 1-of-9 field goal attempts, the lone being a bucket from freshman Jordan Green at the 14:25 mark, and committed three turnovers, allowing the Blue Raiders to turn a two-point deficit into a 10-point advantage. Feitls fifth and final triple finally broke the drought to pull JBU within seven, 56-49, but that would be as close as John Brown would come as the Golden Eagles suffered its second-consecutive defeat, the first time this season.
JBU shot 24-of-60 on the night (40 percent) and converted 5-of-15 attempts from behind the arc (33.3 percent). Lindsey Wilson shot marginally better, knocking down 30-of-71 attempts from the field (42.3 percent) and posted a 33.3 percent efficiency from long range (7-of-21). Both teams pulled down 36 rebounds in the contest.
The tournament wont get much easier for the Golden Eagles as on deck is No. 2 Campbellsville (Ky.). The Tigers faced tournament host Philander Smith this evening in an 8 p.m. matchup. JBUs contest with the Tigers will tip-off at 2 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.
