PLAINVIEW, Texas -- Down one late in the contest, senior Josh Bowling took over on offense as the Golden Eagle defense clamped down to deny Wayland Baptist extending its undefeated league mark on home court as the No. 24 John Brown University men's basketball team handed an upset to league-leading No. 14 Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Saturday (Jan. 19) afternoon inside the Hutcherson Center.
Bowling scored 17 of his team-leading 23 points in the second half, and put up all eight of JBU's points after the visitors faced a late 68-67 deficit.
JJ Culver's running layup put the Pioneers (14-5, 9-2 Sooner Athletic) up one again on the next possession, but just under a minute later, Bowling triple from the right arc in transition gave the Golden Eagles a 71-69 advantage, the 15th lead change of the game. John Brown turned in a strong defensive stand as sophomore Rokas Grabliauskas forced a turnover and a steal and Bowling capped off the possession at the other end with a floating mid-range jumper to essentially ice the contest.
One more full shot clock defensive stand kept Baptist from completing a comeback. After missing a shot and getting the offensive rebound, Culver's uncontested triple as time expired still left the hosts one point short - propelling the Golden Eagles to its first win since 2014 in Plainview, breaking a four-year losing skid in West Texas.
"This was a really big win for us tonight after losing three straight close games," head coach Jason Beschta said after his first-career win inside the Hutcherson Center. "Wayland has been playing so well lately, and without a couple of players, so coming into today as the league's hottest team was really impressive.
"Guys like Luke (Harper) and Desmond (Kennedy) really gave us valuable minutes. Josh (Bowling) was very aggressive and was fun to watch catch fire in the second half. I thought we were at our best defensively in the halfcourt – we guarded very well – when they didn't get out on us in transition."
The bench really did come in clutch this afternoon as the John Brown (13-6, 7-4) reserves out-scored the Pioneers' by a 30-19 margin, led by junior Desmond Kennedy's 14-point effort. Freshman Luke Harper also added eight points.
Winners of its last six, the Pioneers tried to ride JJ Culver's game-high 32 points, but he missed as many as he made, finishing the contest 14-of-28 from the floor. CJ Obinwa contributed 12 points while Spencer Linsey posted nine points and 11 boards.
Bowling finished an astounding 8-of-9 from the field, grabbing four caroms, including a 4-of-5 mark from behind the arc. Senior Jake Caudle hit two first-half triples to keep John Brown within striking distance and finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Breaking its own three-game losing skid, the Golden Eagles manage a split on a weekend that featured a pair of one-possession contests. JBU now sits tied for third in the middle of a jumble that sees all eight of the SAC's top teams separated by just 3.5 games.
JBU returns to Bill George Arena next week to welcome a pair of Texas teams in Texas Wesleyan and Southwestern A.G.. The Golden Eagles host Texas Wesleyan on Thursday (Jan. 24) at 6 p.m. where John Brown hopes to sweep the season series with last year's SAC regular season champion.
