Last-Second Triple Won't Fall, Golden Eagles Lose Tough Battle at SAGU

WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- Senior Max Hopfgartner scored a game-high 29 points, but Rishaad Alexander and Southwestern A.G. (Texas) survived a last-second three-point attempt in a battle of high-scoring squads as the Lions held on for an 84-81 decision over John Brown (11-7, 3-3 SAC) this afternoon inside the Shaffer Center.

Alexander scored a team-high 27 points on a blazing 10-of-13 shooting performance from the field, knocking down 3-of-4 from behind the arc. He finished with 16 points in the second half, converting on all six chances from the field. The Lions (12-5, 3-3 SAC) finished 32-of-58 from the field (55.2 percent) and out-rebounded John Brown, 28-20.

Despite being down for the entirety of the bout, including a game-high 13-point deficit with 14:55 left to play, JBU continued to battle down the stretch, slowly chipping away at the difference. Hopfgartner took over one portion of the game where he netted three-straight buckets, including two from behind the arc, to whittle the SAGU lead back down to four, 61-57, with 10:06 left to play. Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles suffered through a 3:38 scoreless drought afterwards, allowing the Lions to rebuild an 11-point advantage, 68-57.

Still down 11 with 3:26 left in the game, junior Griffin Brady poured in three-consecutive triples while turnovers plagued the hosts, closing the game to just two points, 78-76. A pair of offensive rebounds by SAGUs Jason Gentry and Jonathan Walter afforded the Lions two more possessions in the waning minutes, killing precious time off the clock, but junior DJ Feitl converted his lone triple of the game with 12 seconds left, keeping the gap at just a bucket, 83-81. After numerous fouls to get the Lions in the bonus, JBU became the beneficiary of a split at the line by Emmanuel Adoyi with 10 seconds left. Unfortunately, a last-second attempt from Feitl behind the arc careened off the rim and hit the shot clock, ending the game as the Lions gained possession.

“Im very proud of our fight today,” said head coach Jason Beschta, whose team split a very difficult two-game road trip through the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. “These men just dont give up; they wont quit. They just keep believing in each other and what we are capable of accomplishing when we work together.

“Thats a talented SAGU team who is even tougher at their place, but we stood toe to toe with them. We executed and had several players make key plays for us down the stretch and even gave ourselves a shot to tie the game.”

While Feitls attempt may not have dropped, Beschta was pleased with the progress over the last three days.

“Overall, this was a good road trip for us where we clearly got better,” he added. Max stepped up in big ways, and his versatility makes him a tough matchup. Samson [Olayemi] keeps distributing the ball so well, and our other guys have stepped up to show that even if teams try to take away DJ and his ability to score and make plays for us, we can respond and be effective. We went 1-1 on this trip, but we took two steps forward.”

Hopfgartner finished the game 12-of-20 from the field, but lit up the second half with 20 of his 29 points, including five triples, four rebounds and three assists. Olayemi dished out a game-high nine assists and Brady notched 13 points in the second half, earning 15 total for the game. Feitl finished with 12 points and a perfect 7-of-7 effort from the stripe in the loss.

The game marked Hopfgartners fifth-straight 20 point performance as the JBU big man is averaging 22.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game over the span.

Walter also contributed 16 points in the Lions win as seven different SAGU players scored at least five points.

John Brown will break until Thursday (Jan. 22) when it welcomes Southwestern Christian (Okla.) to Bill George Arena at 8 p.m. The matchup will be the first home game for JBU in 2015.