WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. -- The John Brown mens basketball team (5-1) started out by hitting 6-of-8 from the field to build an early 17-9 lead, but Williams Baptist (Ark.) responded with a 21-12 run and used 20 offensive rebounds to narrowly escape JBU by a 65-63 final on Saturday (Nov. 14) afternoon inside the Southerland-Mabee Gymnasium.
The Golden Eagles finished the first half shooting poorly, managing just three field goals over the final 6:58 of the stanza. Senior Griffin Brady hit two field goals during the stretch and senior Luke Moyers jumper with 58 seconds left tied the score at 33, but the hosts responded with a quick bucket and a buzzer-beating triple to take a 38-33 lead into the intermission.
JBU started out hot, receiving points from its three leading scorers in Moyer, Brady and junior Ricky Roberts. Moyer started the game off with a triple and Brady and Roberts followed suite with buckets of their own for an early 9-3 lead. Roberts converted two chances at the line before Brady pulled down a rebound and went the full length of the court for a bucket, building a 13-5 lead.
Junior Miguel Martinez knocked down his first shot of the afternoon for a 17-9 advantage, but then JBU went cold, going the next 3:27 without a bucket until Moyers second triple of the half propped up a 20-12 lead. Sophomore Matt Ledford added a trey of his own on the next possession and John Browns trio each added one more bucket until the half-ending cold streak.
Three ties highlighted the struggle early in the second half until Ledford drained his second three-pointer to balloon the last tie into a four-point JBU lead, 52-48, with 10:09 remaining. Again, the visitors hit a dry spell and came up empty on four-straight possesions, two misses and two turnovers, allowing the Eagles (2-1) to take a 55-52 lead. Shooting 4-of-11 from long range in the second half, John Brown leaned on a pair of big triples from Moyer and Ledford to remain in the contest. Ledfords bucket tied the score at 55 and Moyers trey gave the visitors a 60-57 lead with 6:07 left in the contest.
After hitting just one of its next four shots, JBU saw Williams Baptist tie the score at 61 with just over three to play. WBCs Tony Jeffries hit back-to-back shots 31 seconds apart, bookending a Moyer bucket, for a 65-63 advantage. JBU suffered through a final turnover and missed shots from Roberts and one at the buzzer from Moyer, a would-be game-winning triple, to fall in its first road contest of the season.
Moyer led all players with 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the floor while dishing out a game-high four assists. Brady added 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting and notched his second double-double of the season with a game-high 13 rebounds. Roberts chipped in 13 points in the loss. The Golden Eagles were out-rebounded for just the second time this season, 52-46, and this time by its largest margin. JBUs 26-of-63 (41.3 percent) clip also marks its lowest efficiency of the season as was its .304 percent mark from behind the arc. Williams Baptist finished 27-of-78 (34.6 percent) from the floor and turned 17 John Brown turnovers into 15 points.
Tony Jeffries led WBC with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting while Tevin Howard added 15 on 6-of-19 shooting, including a trio of triples. He also collected his first double-double of the year after grabbing 12 rebounds in the win.
The Golden Eagles will continue on the road on Tuesday (Nov. 17) when it travels to Pt. Lookout, Mo., to face College of the Ozarks at 7 p.m.
