SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Senior Luke Moyer poured in seven triples and junior Nate Anderson rejected five Arlington Baptist (Texas) shot attempts as the John Brown mens basketball team (2-0) pulled away in the second half to an 86-73 win over the Patriots on Monday (Nov. 2) evening inside Bill George Arena.
Moyer notched 7-of-13 attempts from behind the arc to post a career-best 27 points in the victory. The nations leading assist man also added four helpers and grabbed a steal. Senior Griffin Brady returned to prime form, shooting 7-of-11 from the floor to finish with 18 points and eight boards, five coming on the offensive glass. Junior Ricky Roberts went a perfect 4-of-4 from the line and added 12 points while Anderson notched eight points, eight boards and five blocks.
Both teams shot poorly overall from the line as the hosts went just 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) and the visitors shot a mere 9-of-19 (47.4 percent). The difference came down to defense in the second half as John Brown forced nine Patriot turnovers. ABC committed 17 total in the game and JBU made the visitors pay to the tune of 31 points. The Golden Eagles also shot 13-of-28 from behind the arc (46.4 percent), led by Moyers seven and followed by three from sophomore Matthew Ledford (9 points) and a 2-of-2 night from freshman Jake Caudle (6 points).
The Patriots battled with John Brown the entire first half, riding a 56.3 percent shooting effort over the first 20 minutes to a 43-all tie at the intermission.
Arlington Baptist tied the game at 17 at the 13:20 mark until Ledfords first triple of the game was answered by another ABC triple, keeping the score deadlocked at 20. The visitors took a 24-20 lead, but Caudles first shot from downtown was followed by a pair of Moyer free throws, returning the lead back to John Brown, 27-26.
Back-to-back triples from the Patriots opened up an eight-point deficit for John Brown, 40-32. Slowly chipping away primarily at the line, Moyer added another two while freshman Josh Bowling converted a pair, followed up with another duo from Anderson. Freshman Brandon Joseph netted his lone bucket of the game with two seconds left in the half to return the lead to John Brown, 43-42, just before ABC would split at the line at the buzzer.
JBU ended the first half on an 11-3 run.
After quickly surrendering the lead to kick off the second half, Moyer responded with back-to-back triples. Brady dropped a bucket on the following possession to open up a 51-45 lead. Later in the half at the 11:49 mark, Brady jump-started a run that featured another Ledford triple that was followed by alternating buckets from Anderson and Roberts to break open a 70-62 advantage.
Moyer then took over the game at the 6:45 mark, scoring eight points (two triples) to maintain a 12-point advantage, 78-66. The JBU defense allowed just two Baptist field goals over the final 5:56 of the half as Brady added six more points in the final minutes of play.
The Patriots (0-1) out-rebounded John Brown, 34-32, led by Kel Wallaces eight board and 15 points. Caleb Brown tried to mirror Moyer with a 6-of-12 effort from long range and finished with a team-best 24 points in the loss. Kennedy Jones contributed 14 points for Arlington Baptist.
The Golden Eagles will regroup and return to action on Thursday (Nov. 5) when it welcomes Hillsdale Free Will Baptist (Okla.) to Bill George Arena for a 7:30 tip off. The contest will be JBUs third in a season-opening six-game homestand.
