BABSON PARK, Fla. -- Sophomore Rokas Grabliauskas scored a season-high 19 points and the No. 23 John Brown University men's basketball team won its fourth game in its last five tries by riding a late first-half surge that snowballed in the second half in an 85-63 win over Johnson (Fla.) on Monday (Dec. 17) afternoon inside the Sabbaugh Atletic Center.
Shooting an impressive 5-of-7 from the field in the first half, including a pair of triples, Grabliauskas posted 15 points in the first half and added four more in the second to finish with a season-best 19 points and added a career-best six assists to zero turnovers. This effort led the Golden Eagles (9-3) which assisted on 18 of its 32 field goals and only turned the ball over eight times, one shy of a season low, while forcing the Suns (2-13) into 18 turnovers.
Over the first 15 minutes of the contest, Johnson hit early triples to take an early 9-6 lead, but Grabliasukas' triple followed by a Luke Harper layup turned the lead back over to John Brown in the first and only lead change of the contest. Junior Desmond Kennedy and junior Brenton Toussaint added back-to-back layups to extend the lead to six, 15-9. The teams would stay within seven points until the Suns posted a quick 6-0 run to pull within two, 23-21.
From there, it was all John Brown for the remaining 5:58 of the first half as JBU ran away on a 16-2 stretch. Grabliauskas and sophomore Densier Carnes each posted a bucket and another triple during the run that resulted in a 39-27 advantage at the intermission, capped off by senior Josh Bowling's layup with 45 seconds left.
The run continued into the second half that was highlighted by an flush from freshman Ira Perrier and a 4-of-4 effort from Bowling at the stripe after a Suns player racked up back-to-back technicals – exhibiting frustration as the matchup widened for Johnson.
Kennedy hit consecutive triples late in the second half to place the Golden Eagles up by a game-high 29, 81-52.
A late 11-4 Suns run narrowed the final score margin over the final 3:49 of the contest.
Bowling finished 6-of-13 from the floor to score 16 while Kennedy added 13. Carnes and junior Quintin Bailey came off the bench to contribute 13 and 11 points, respectively, as Carnes nearly missed a double-double by pulling down eight rebounds in the win.
While out-boarded 51-35 in the contest, the Golden Eagles were able to limit Johnson to just 16 points off its 17 offensive rebounds, while JBU made the Suns pay to the tune of 25-7 in points off turnovers.
Ray McLeod paced the Suns with 17 points, hitting 9-of-10 chances at the stripe.
Despite its worst three-point shooting effort of the season (24 percent), John Brown still shot over 45 percent from the floor, knocking down 32-of-69, while holding Johnson to a mere 33 percent (19-of-58), including a 27 percent effort in the first half.
The Golden Eagles return to action tomorrow afternoon (Dec. 18) at 2 p.m. against NCAA III Fontbonne (Mo.) to finish up the classic.
