Turnovers, Reserves Lead Oklahoma City Past John Brown, 85-71

SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Both teams boasted a pair of 20-point scorers, but Oklahoma City (9-6, 5-4 SAC) used 18 John Brown (12-9, 4-5 SAC) turnovers and 27 points off the bench to shoot nearly 50 percent in an 85-71 win over the Golden Eagles tonight inside Bill George Arena.

City has now won three-straight games while JBU has now fallen in three of its last four.

Gary Inglett and Tharone Chilton each poured in a game-high 21 points for OCU as Inglett contributed a team-best eight boards and Chilton sealed five steals and three assists in the win. Off the bench, R.J. McGhee netted 11 points, five rebounds and four helpers while Dorion Gigger added 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor.

The Golden Eagles committed 18 turnovers in the loss and suffered a 27-8 scoring deficit in points from reserves. City scored 20 points off JBUs miscues and owned a 43-32 scoring edge in the paint.

“A lot of problems can arise when you turn the ball over and tonight our turnovers led to 20 points for OCU, most of them easy transition baskets,” said head coach Jason Beschta. “We cant give away that many points. That puts a lot of pressure on our offense which then takes the focus off of our defense. So if we dont score on a possession, we are not as locked in during the following defensive possession.

“Our defense has to be a staple of who we are and cannot be dependent on our offense. We have to value the ball better to make sure we get a good shot up every possession, which will then give our defense a chance to compete”

The Oklahoma City offense posted a 30-of-61 effort from the floor (49.2 percent), just marginally better than its average. The Golden Eagles, however, managed just a 41.4 percent clip (24-of-58). Free throws became key down the stretch. OCU poured in 14-of-16 attempts in the second half to finish 19-of-23 from the line (82.6 percent), compared to JBUs 15-of-21 performance (71.4 percent) at the charity stripe.

Facing an early 10-5 deficit, junior DJ Feitls triple jump-started a 9-0 run that saw a pair of buckets from senior Samson Olayemi before junior Griffin Brady and senior Max Hopfgartner netted baskets down low. City pulled within one, 18-17, at the 11:40 mark on McGhees layup, but another Feitl trey returned the hosts lead to four, 21-17.

OCUs Lou Dunbar and Giger connected on back-to-back triples, vaulting the Stars back in the lead, 26-22. Hopfgartner tied the score momentarily at 26, but John Brown managed just one field goal, a Hopfgartner three-pointer, in the remaining 7:22 of the first half. City finished the stanza on a 9-3 run to claim a 39-31 lead at the break.

Held to just two field goals over the first 4:20 of the second half, City allowed JBU to crawl back into the contest. Freshman Zach Englishs bonus shot from the deep left corner cut the score to 43-40, the first of a four three-point leads for the Stars. R.J. McGhee finally put away John Brown on a personal 5-0 run as the Golden Eagles failed to score over a pivotal 3:52 span. English would splash his second bucket from long range at the 10:06 mark to break the drought, but Giggers and-one on the next possession countered, and led to an 11-point contest, 62-51.

Brady and Feitl teamed up for consecutive buckets with just 4:12 remaining, pulling JBU all the way back to within four, 64-60, but shooting woes and turnovers rebuilt the margin back to 10, 71-61, once OCUs Jamil Donovan nailed a trey with 2:25 left in the game.

The Stars ended the contest a perfect 10-of-10 from the line in the last 68 seconds.

Hopfgartner earned his sixth double-double of the season, scoring 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting to accompany a game-best 10 rebounds. Feitl poured in 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the line and dished out a game-high seven assists. English secured a perfect shooting night, knocking down 3-of-3 from the field, including two from bonus range, and a 4-of-4 mark at the stripe. Freshman Matthew Ledford came off the bench to contribute a pair of triples in the loss.

“We did a great job of fighting back in the second half after getting in a hole, but they made some big plays and we didnt get some important stops,” Beschta added. “OCU is a talented team, but that is to be expected out of every conference opponent. We are going to have to be better during the second half of the conference season because we are facing tough teams every night.”

“This group works hard and has a lot of room to grow, which is a good thing. I expect us to continue climbing every week.”

JBU will continue that climb this Saturday (Jan. 31) when St. Gregorys visits Bill George Arena for a 5 p.m. start. The Cavaliers handed John Brown a 90-74 defeat back on Jan. 10 in Shawnee, Okla. Part of the game festivities will include a celebration of the 2005 NAIA National Championship Golden Eagle squad at halftime.