LANGSTON, Okla. -- Senior Jake Caudle scored a season-best 25 points and the No. 21 John Brown University men's basketball team rode a run midway through the second half to hold on for a 71-68 win over No. 4 Langston (Okla.), handing the Lions its first loss of the season, on Saturday (Jan. 5) afternoon inside the C.F. Gayles Fieldhouse.
Caudle dropped six triples and hit 8-of-11 from the stripe to power his 25-point, seven-rebound performance.
The Lions (12-1, 4-1 Sooner Athletic) suffered its first loss of the season, as the JBU defense held the hosts to a season-worst 30.6 percent (19-of-62) from the floor. LU had previously not shot any lower than 40 percent in a game this season. Its 68 points was also a season-low, held to 15 points below its season scoring average.
"I thought we did an unbelievable job locking in on the defensive end, forcing a high-scoring Langston team to take a lot of tough shots, one's they're capable of hitting," head coach Jason Beschta said. "Jake was impressive – he played with a lot of aggression and confidence – including working his way to the foul line.
"Today was a big win and it continues to validate what the team already believes about itself. We just need to stay humble and hungry and focus on improving over the course of the season. Every other team in the conference will be, and any win is hard to come by."
Three triples from Caudle shot the Golden Eagles out to an early 15-5 lead, a lead it would maintain for the entire half.
An early 13-7 run from the Lions to open the second half handed the hosts its first, and only, lead of the contest, 39-36, with just over 16 minutes left. Then, John Brown responded and took the lead back for good.
Senior Josh Bowling hit a pair at the line and sophomore Rokas Grabliauskas added his second bucket of the half to return to the lead and begin a 14-3 rally that finished with a 50-42 John Brown advantage.
The Lions forced John Brown to earn the remainder of its points at the foul line over the final 10 minutes of play as the Golden Eagles needed just two field goals but converted 15-of-19 from the stripe to keep Langston at bay. LU hit just 5-of-15 from the field over the last 10 minutes and committed four turnovers.
Bowling hit 6-of-6 from the line to add 13 while junior Brenton Toussaint contributed a perfect 5-of-5 shooting mark to score 11. Grabliauskas netted 10 points and passed out four assists.
While not shooting well again behind the arc, outside of Caudle, JBU hit 12-of-22 inside the arc and out-scored Langston 20-14 in the paint.
Jorori Coleman scored 14 to lead Langston but took 19 shot attempts. Alfonzo Anderson also netted 14 and grabbed nine boards while Jerami Grace notched 10 points. Knowledge Darby corralled a game-high 10 rebounds.
John Brown now sits atop the Sooner Athletic standings in January for the first time since the 2012-13 season as Beschta tallied his third-career win over an NAIA I top-10 opponent.
Langston had not lost inside C.F. Gayles Fieldhouse since Feb. 10, 2018 (9 games).
The Golden Eagles return to action on Thursday (Jan. 8) at 8 p.m. with another tough conference opponent, Science & Arts (Okla.) in Chickasha, Okla. Tip is slated for 8 p.m.
