SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Down nine points with just 2:45 remaining, the John Brown University men's basketball team connected on three straight triples and ended the game on a 15-3 run, ruining Oklahoma Panhandle State's victory bid by finishing off a 106-103 come-from-behind victory inside Bill George Arena on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 6).
OPSU's Jace Kerr (29 points) and Jaedon Whitfield (26 points) were mostly unstoppable for the majority of the contest, but with 4:07 left in the contest, Kerr and sophomore Brenton Toussaint found themselves tangled up in the lane, and the pair were assessed technical fouls, leading to the fifth and final foul for each.
With the Sooner Athletic's leading scorer on the bench for the remainder of the contest, the Golden Eagles (9-4, 4-1 SAC) pushed to even the score in the late stages of the contest. Triples from juniors Jake Caudle and Josh Bowling pulled the hosts within three, until a Nathan Corder dagger tied the game at 100 with 1:09 remaining.
After splitting a pair at the line, OPSU hoped for a defensive stand, but junior Marquis Waller took a pick out at the wing and waltzed into the lane and flushed a two-handed jam that flipped the lead for good with just 37 ticks left.
"Today was a game of runs and we played hard against a team with three dangerously good players," head coach Jason Beschta noted after his first 4-1 start to a conference slate as bench boss. "This week has been an exciting way to start off the semester.
"Any win in this league is going to be hard-fought. But I knew that if we could string some wins together, including a win over a 'top-tier' team like Wayland Baptist, we can get some momentum going. Winning is a habit, and it's neat to see that we're building positive habits."
Bowling and Waller each converted both chances at the line down the stretch, while the Aggies (8-4, 2-3) couldn't score a field goal in the final 3:15 of the contest.
Bowling scored a team-best 28 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and a 9-of-9 mark from the charity stripe. Caudle ended with 24 points on five triples and five assists while freshman Rokas Grabliuaskas returned in fine form, contributing 15 points.
Over seven lead changes and a score swing of 24 points, the Golden Eagles relied on its reserves, out-scoring the Aggie bench by a 24-0 margin, fueled by 8 points from Corder and junior Benjamin Smith.
JBU returns to action on Thursday (Jan. 11) at Texas Wesleyan in Ft. Worth, Texas. Tip is scheduled for 8 p.m.
