SHAWNEE, Okla. -- John Brown (21-10) overcame a 16-point second half deficit and Gilbert Gyamfi hit a game-tying triple with six seconds left in the game, vaulting the seventh-seeded Golden Eagles to a 16-9 advantage in the overtime session and a 107-100 win over tenth-seeded Northwood (Texas) tonight at the Noble Complex.
JBU will now advance to the Sooner Athletic Conference quarterfinals to face second-seeded Wayland Baptist (Texas) for the third time this season. The Golden Eagles swept the season series with the Pioneers, including a 67-66 win in Plainview, Texas, snapping WBUs unbeaten home streak, and a 90-86 victory at Bill George Arena just nine days later.
Finding itself in a 13-point hole at the intermission, Northwood padded its lead to a game-high 16 after scoring the second halfs first bucket from behind the arc. Max Hopfgartner ended NUs run by hitting back-to-back buckets in the paint and Gyamfi netted three of the games next five points to pull JBU within 11, 54-43. The Knight advantage was finally whittled down to single digits when Kurtis Phillips hit a three-pointer at the top of the arc at the 16:13 mark, but Northwood responded with a basket of its own , returning the lead to 10.
If it wasnt apparent before, the momentum clearly shifted at the 15:09 mark as Phillips laid in a chance below the basket. On the ensuing inbounds, Phillips picked off the pass and fed a cutting Gyamfi, who took one dribble before throwing down a one-handed tomahawk jam, forcing the Knights to burn a timeout. After a missed shot on the offensive end, Northwood gave up another Smith trey on the defensive end, cutting its lead down to just three, 56-53, with 14:24 left in the game. At 13:07, the Knights had regained a seven-point cushion, 62-55, but Jared Johnson worked down low for two points before the Golden Eagle defense turned an NU miscue into Smiths third trey of the evening. Minutes later, Kofi Josephs took over the contest, beginning with a perfect trip to the line that was quickly followed by a slash through the lane and, after absorbing contact, rolled in a perfect layup, tying the score at 67 apeice.
Despite both squads scoring points at a frantic pace, Gyamfi earned a trip to the line at the 8:40 mark. He would hit both, evening the teams at 69. Just 25 seconds later, Gyamfi poured in another below the bucket and drew contact from Northwoods leading scorer, Everett Pleasant. Pleasant earned a technical foul on the play, placing Josephs at the line for a pair of shots, which he converted, handing John Brown a three-point lead, 73-70. The lead eventually grew to a game-high 10 points after Smith finished off a personal 5-0 run, capped by his third triple of the second half. The scoring completed JBUs 11-1 run with just 6:15 remaining in the half.
The Knights responded and quickly, however, piecing together a 12-0 run of its own over the next 2:55, erasing JBUs double-digit lead and returning the advantage to Northwood, 82-80. A pair of free throws from Phillips at 3:12 and an old-fashioned three-point play from Gyamfi at 2:31 knotted the teams for the fifth and six time of the night, respectively. NU scored four of the next five points to carve out a narrow three-point lead, 89-86, but a pair of shots from the line from Josephs created just a mere one-point separation with 47 ticks left in regulation.
Following a Northwood timeout, the Knights milked the clock and fired a desperation shot which missed, but NUs Pleasant was able to corral the rebound, forcing Phillips to foul NUs leading scorer with 16 seconds left in the game. After hitting both attempts, Gyamfi carried the ball down the court with JBUs season on the line. He wouldnt disappoint, however, as he drilled a three-pointer from the right arc that rattled around the rim before falling with just six seconds left in the game to force overtime.
Gyamfi opened the scoring in the overtime session, but Pleasant responded quickly to force the nights eighth tie. It was all Golden Eagles from that point on however, when Josephs buried a bucket from behind the middle of the arc for a three-point lead. Up 97-94, Gyamfi brough the sparse crowd to its feet when he converted yet another three-point play at the 2:41 mark. Northwood threatened one last time, pulling to within two, 101-99, but Hopfgartner stripped Pleasant of the ball after he had rebounding an errant Josephs miss, and laid it in to seal the victory, 107-100.
Gyamfi led all scorers with a game-high 33 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field. He completed the double-double by collecting 10 rebounds, three on the offensive glass, while finishing 9-of-14 from the line. Josephs came alive in the second half and scored 23 points of his own, including a perfect 9-of-9 effort at the line. He also dished out a game-high four helpers. Phillips drained 17 points, threw out two assists and created a team-leading trio of steals while Smith, on the power of a game-high three treys, earned 12 points while posting a pair of rejections. Hopfgartner came off the bench and chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Golden Eagles shot 50 percent on the night (34-of-68) and dropped 9-of-21 attempts from behind the arc (42.9 percent). John Brown also shot the ball extremely well at the charity stripe, converting 30-of-37 opportunities (81.1 percent) while Northwood managed just 20-of-34 (58.8 perecent) on the evening. The Knights went just 6-of-20 from long range (30 percent) but finished 37-of-78 from the field (47.4 percent). NU barely won the rebounding battle, 44-43.
Pleasant paced Northwood (9-22) with 32 points on a 12-of-17 mark from the floor. He also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds while handing out a pair of assists. B.J. Dale contributed three treys en route to 20 points and Chace Franklin went 5-of-9 off the bench, chipping in 10 points in the loss.
