SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- A 53-26 lead at the intermission was all the John Brown University men's basketball team needed as the Golden Eagles cruised to a 94-66 win, claiming its second victory over Ecclesia (Ark.) of the young season, on Saturday (Nov. 10) night inside Bill George Arena.
The JBU (3-1) offense just cleared its average of 95 points per game and shot over 50 percent for the third time in three home games.
Senior Jake Caudle poured in a game-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor, including a quartet of triples, while counterpart freshman Luke Harper added 10 points, six assists – a career high – and four rebounds.
Sophomore Densier Carnes, 4-of-6 from the floor, and senior Dwayne Hart, a perfect 3-of-3, each contributed 10 points off the bench, accounting nearly half of JBU's points from the bench.
Harper hit back-to-back floating jumpers to put the Golden Eagles up 14 early, 20-6. Caudle and sophomore Rokas Grabliauskas teamed up for consecutive treys at the 7:23 mark ballooning the Ecclesia (0-5) deficit to 22 to moved to 24 after Carnes running layup off a Josh Bowling steal built a 39-15 advantage for the hosts.
The lead would hit 28, twice, before the teams broke for the intermission.
The second half was a foul parade as the teams combined for 30 fouls and 35 free throw attempts over the final 20 minutes of play. This segmented form of basketball seemed to favor the Royals as the visitors played John Brown to a 41-40 second half score, but the first half 27-point deficit was too much for Ecclesia to overcome.
Ecclesia shot just 38 percent (19-of-50) from the field, but missed over 75 percent of its attempts from behind the arc (5-of-21). Cash Krueger scored 13 points while Vince Toftness, 11 points, were the Royals' lone double-digit scorers.
Junior Brenton Toussaint pieced together an odd statline – seven rebounds, all on the offensive glass, and six points of the bench, helping John Brown to a 38-29 rebounding advantage. JBU is 3-0 when out-rebounding its opponents and 0-1 when its opponent own the battle on the boards.
JBU will now look forward to Thursday (Nov. 15) when the Golden Eagles host Bacone (Okla.) to open Sooner Athletic play. Tip is scheduled for 8 p.m. inside Bill George Arena.
