SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Down by as many as 14 in the first half, the John Brown mens basketball team (3-1) rallied to open the second half on a 14-8 run to tie the score at 63, but Avilas (Kan.) Sedrick Johnson knocked down a game-winning mid-range jumper with three seconds left to hand the Golden Eagles its first loss of the season, 100-98, on Saturday (Nov. 7) afternoon inside Bill George Arena.
Down 96-92 senior Luke Moyer dropped a dramatic triple from the far left arc with 21 seconds left to play. An intentional foul sent AUs Johnson to the line for a pair, and after converting both at the 20 second mark, John Brown had a chance to even the score again.
Moyer again stepped up with his fourth trey of the afternoon, knotting the score at 98 to the delight of the BGA fans with just 12 seconds left. However, on its return trip down the floor, Johnson buried a mid-range jumper with three seconds left, pushing the score to 100-98.
After a long inbounds pass, Moyer heaved up a contested triple which fell short.
Both teams shot the ball well, as the Golden Eagles posted a 29-of-55 effort from the floor (52.7 percent) while Avila knocked down 32-of-66 chances for a 48.5 percent clip. The visiting Eagles seemingly couldnt miss from behind the arc, converting 10-of-19 chances (52.6 percent), led by Trey Bales five triples and 21 points off the Avila bench. The Golden Eagles shot better than usual from the line, hitting 30-of-34 (88.2 percent), but the turnover differential proved to be the deciding factor as Avila forced 21 JBU turnovers, compared to just 10 of its own.
Junior Ricky Roberts posted a career-high 27 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a perfect 12-of-12 mark from the charity stripe. Senior Griffin Brady broke out for a 24-point effort, hitting 9-of-18 from the field while completing the double-double by grabbing a team-best 10 boards in the loss. Moyer added four triples and a 6-of-12 shooting mark from the floor to finish with 18 points.
JBU controlled the boards, 35-29, but AUs bench proved too much as the Eagle reserves out-scored John Browns bench, 45-19.
Johnson finished just 10-of-23 from the field for Avila, but was 13-of-15 from the line to record his fourth career 30-point game. After scoring 10 points in the first half, Johnson exploded for 23 in the second half. Bales went over 20 points for the second-consecutive game this season, and he has now hit 12-of-21 shots from beyond the arc this season.
The Golden Eagles will now continue its season-opening six-game homestand on Tuesday (Nov. 10) when it welcomes Ozark Christian (Mo.) to Bill George Arena for a 7 p.m. tip off.
