PT. LOOKOUT, Mo. -- Senior Griffin Brady produced a career night with 41 points and 15 rebounds, but the John Brown mens basketball team (5-3) dropped its second straight as College of the Ozarks (Mo.) closed regulation on a 6-2 run and outscored John Brown 9-8 in overtime to grab an 88-87 overtime victory on Tuesday (Nov. 17) evening at the Keeter Gymnasium.
The Bobcats (4-1) double-digit comeback may have overshadowed Bradys heroic night, but the senior launched a 16-of-21 effort from the field, knocking down 4-of-6 from behind the arc while snatching 15 rebounds in the loss. Bradys output now ties him for fourth in the programs single-game scoring history while also tying for third all-time with 16 field goals made. It was Bradys third double-double in his last four games.
Junior Nate Anderson split a pair at the line at the 9:46 mark of the second half to give the Golden Eagles an eight-point lead (65-57), but the Bobcats responded with an 8-0 run to tie the score for the first time at 65 with 6:41 left in the half. Brady turned a Matthew Ledford steal into a bucket to push the lead back to three, 73-70, and senior Luke Moyer hit a pair at the line with 1:29 remaining to force a four-point advantage, 77-73.
Out of a timeout, Ozarks responded with a triple from Skyler Frazier to trim the deficit to one, but another trip to the line for Moyer repopulated a three-point advantage with 17 seconds left. The Bobcats had one last big-time shot left and Cameron Paschke nailed a triple from the left arc with seven tickets left to knot the score at 79 apiece.
The teams battled back and forth in overtime to the tune of six lead changes. Junior Ricky Roberts went to the line three times in JBUs first possessions of the extra session. After hitting three of his first four to build a three-point lead, Roberts misfired on both on his third trip. Ozarks hit two at the line at the other end and used an empty John Brown possession to setup the fifth tie of the game with a Ethan Murray Field goal with 2:18 left. A second-consecutive bucketless trip gave Murray another chance to give the hosts a lead, which he did with an unguarded layup, but Roberts had another chance at redemption.
On the next possession, Roberts sank one of two at the line and then finished off a sneaky lay-in the next time down the court to hand John Brown an 87-86 lead with 22 seconds remaining. A defensive foul on the next trip sent Ozarks Keifer Starbird to the line for two with the game on the line. Starbird hit both, giving JBU one last chance at a victory.
With three seconds left, Ledford had an open shot on deep in the right corner, but couldnt hit the triple attempt. Brady grabbed his 15th rebound of the night and let go a turn-and-shoot attempt from just outside the paint, but the shot wouldnt fall as JBU suffered its first overtime defeat of 2015.
“This was the last game in a brutal stretch to start the season without a lot of time between games,†said head coach Jason Beschta. “We showed a lot of grit and heart and battled all game long. We had several guys make big plays at both ends tonight. Unfortunately, so did C of O.
“Griffin was really tough tonight and keeps playing better and better. We are so close right now and just cant let these close losses cause us to lose sight of that.â€
Roberts finished the contest with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting the floor while senior Luke Moyer and Anderson each added nine points in the loss. John Brown eclipsed 45 percent for the seventh time in eight games hitting 31-of-59 from the field (52.5 percent) and limited the Bobcats to 28-of-65 (43.1 percent). However, Ozarks hit 24-of-26 (92.3 percent) from the charity stripe. The hosts also held a 31-29 advantage in rebounds while John Brown committed 22 turnovers, compared to Ozarks 20.
Four Bobcats finished in double digits, led by Murrays 30 on 9-of-19 shooting from the field. He completed the double-double with 10 boards and two steals. Paschke notched 18 points and went 7-of-7 from the line while Starbird added 15 and Frazier posted 11 and eight boards.
The Golden Eagles will look to regroup during its seven-day hiatus until it returns to action on Tuesday (Nov. 24) at Benedictine (Kan.) at 7:30 p.m.
