SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- After battling back from an early second-half run to force two late ties, the John Brown mens basketball team (11-12, 4-7 SAC) allowed Southwestern Christian (Okla.) to score with two seconds left, breaking a 59-all tie as the visitors held on for a 61-59 win inside Bill George Arena on Thursday (Feb. 4) evening.
Armed with a 36-33 lead at the intermission, the visiting Eagles (11-9, 7-4 SAC) used a period-opening 16-4 run to take a nine-point lead, 49-40. The lead evaporated towards the end of the contest as John Browns defense held SCU to without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes of play.
Finally, junior Zach Englishs jumper with 2:02 on the clock tied the score at 55 and a driving layup with eight seconds left from senior Luke Moyer knotted the score again at 59.
Out of the timeout, Christian pushed the ball into the lane and Mikel Parishs floater in the paint stuck with two seconds left to clinch the victory for the road team. The Golden Eagles have now lost three of four at home this semester and fall to 7-6 overall inside Bill George Arena.
Senior Griffin Brady claimed his conference-leading seventh double-double of the season by netting a team-best 15 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the floor to combine with a 10-rebound outing. JBUs other double-digit scorer was junior Ricky Roberts, who hit 3-of-10 from the field but 5-of-6 from the line to finish with 11 points and six boards.
With the loss, John Brown falls to 2-9 when shooting less than 45 percent and 0-5 when scoring less than 70 points.
Marvin White led the way for the Eagles, hitting 6-of-14 from the field to finish with 16 points. James Still grabbed a double-double of his own with 11 and 12 while Shawn Scott added 10 in the win.
The Golden Eagles struggled all evening from the field, hitting just 18-of-60 chances to finish 30 percent, including a 28.1 percent mark in the first half. Eleven of JBUs 15 total turnovers occurred in the second half, highlighted by eight miscues during SCUs frame-opening rally in the second half.
Southwestern Christian, meanwhile, knocked down 25-of-56 (44.6 percent) from the field but converted just 9-of-23 from the stripe (39.1 percent), keeping the contest close in the first half.
With a 1-2 mark on a three-game homestand, John Brown will now take off for a three-game road swing through Texas, beginning with a date with Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Saturday (Feb. 6) at 3 p.m. at the Hutcherson Center. Next week the Golden Eagles will face Southwestern A.G. and Texas Wesleyan before returning to home action.
