SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Leading for over 38 minutes of the contest, the No. 21 John Brown University men's basketball team overcame an early deficit and rode a 42-14 advantage in the paint to an 88-67 win over Southwestern Christian (Okla.) on Thursday (Jan. 31) evening inside Bill George Arena.
The Golden Eagles (16-6, 10-4 Sooner Athletic) won its fourth straight, the longest streak in the conference, and pulled into second place all alone after No. 12 Langston (Okla.) was dismantled by No. 10 Wayland Baptist (Texas) in Plainview. JBU still sits two games back of the league-leading Pioneers and now holds a one-game lead over the Lions.
The JBU big men contributed 37 points in the outing, paced by sophomore Densier Carnes' first double-digit output in the second semester. Carnes came off the bench to contribute 11 points, all in the second half, on 5-of-7 shooting, and grabbed five rebounds, four on the offensive glass, and added three assists.
Senior Benjamin Smith came off the bench in valuable minutes to contribute nine points while starters Josh Bowling and Quintin Bailey added nine and eight points, respectively.
In a balanced scoring and rebounding effort, the John Brown defense held Southwestern Christian (12-10, 7-7) 13 points below its season scoring average, despite Darius Madkins' game-leading 19 points. Anothony Thomas added 17 in the loss.
Sophomore Rokas Grabliauskas broke out for a 15-point outing on an efficient 6-of-9 night from the field, including a trio of triples. Senior Jake Caudle also added 15 as the Golden Eagles were able to limit the minutes of its starters in the run-away victory that ballooned to 28 points midway through the second half.
After Thomas' triple to put the visitors ahead 3-0, the SCU offense stalled for the next 7:12, allowing John Brown to piece together a 17-0 run. The visiting Eagles were 0-of-4 from the field during the stretch, but committed eight turnovers over the seven-minute span.
The Golden Eagles were on all night from the field, following up a 53 percent first-half performance with an even more impressive 57 percent mark in the second stanza. JBU needed just 10 triples and an 8-of-12 finish at the stripe to put up its highest score in a Sooner Athletic game since a 93-78 win over No. 18 Southwestern A.G. (Texas) on Nov. 29 (12 games).
Ten players scored points for the hosts in the second half as Madkin and Thomas did their best to keep Southwestern Christian in the contest. A Madkin triple early in the second half whittle the John Brown lead to 15, 42-27, but that would be as close as the visitors would come.
The Bill George Arena crowd rose to its feet with 2:31 left in the contest when sophomore Nathan Corder fed Smith on a fastbreak under the bucket. Smith flushed a two-handed slam down, swiftly ending a small 5-0 SCU run.
JBU will attempt to avoid a season sweep on Saturday (Feb. 2) when the Golden Eagles venture into Abe Lemons Arena for a matinee matchup with Oklahoma City at 4 p.m. City has bested John Brown in four of the last five contests between the two teams in Oklahoma City.
