OKLAHOMA CITY -- The No. 18 John Brown University men's basketball team overcame an early shooting rut and advanced to its first Sooner Athletic Tournament finals for the first time since 2013 by ending Mid-America Christian's (Okla.) season with a 70-59 win on Friday (March 1) night inside Abe Lemons Arena.
In a matchup that featured teams that both captured wins on their opponent's home courts during the regular season, the second-seeded Golden Eagles (23-9) suffered through a 3-of-13 shooting start from the floor and faced a 17-6 deficit eight minutes into the contest.
Sophomore Rokas Grabliauskas' first triple of the game finally ended an 0-of-7 start from behind the arc and jump-started a JBU response that included a pair of impressive inside buckets from junior Quintin Bailey and a triple from senior Jake Caudle. A pair of Ira Perrier conversions at the line completed the 18-5 rally that allowed the Golden Eagles to take a 24-22 lead - an advantage it wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way.
After taking the lead into the intermission, John Brown continued its momentum in the second half, but the sixth-seeded Evangels (20-12) traded buckets with the Golden Eagles and made a small run to whittle the JBU lead to just one, 39-38. Three triples from senior Josh Bowling, Caudle and Grabliauskas broke open the contest and gave John Brown a 10-point lead, 48-38, with one last MACU push remaining.
Mid-America Christian hit a triple and quickly stole the JBU inbounds and converted a layup to halve the John Brown lead in under seven seconds, but Caudle's fadeway in the lane was followed by a dump pass from junior Desmond Kennedy into Bailey for a layup to restore the lead to nine. On the next possession Luke Harper hit a triple from the left elbow to give the Blue and Gold its largest lead of the game - 12 points - with seven minutes to play.
The John Brown lead reached 15, twice, but MACU hit the line and trimmed the lead to seven, 64-57, with 68 seconds remaining. Hitting 6-of-10 free throws down the stretch sent John Brown to its first conference title game in six seasons.
Bowling led the Golden Eagles with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field, while Caudle added 15 points on three triples. Bailey pieced together arguably his strongest performance of the season - hitting 5-of-8 from the floor to contribute 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Harper hit a timely triple and sunk six at the charity stripe to add nine off the bench.
Kennedy dished out a career-high five assists while sophomore Densier Carnes posted a career-high three swats while grabbing a team-best nine rebounds, helping John Brown win the battle on the boards, 41-31.
Charles Beaureguard scored 15 for the Evangels in the loss, while Dominick Ford added 12 and Anthony Black, who battled foul trouble, contributed 10.
The Golden Eagle defense improved even more in the second half, holding MACU to just 34 percent from the floor, while the JBU offense improved its efficiency behind the arc, fixing a 2-of-11 first-half mark behind the arc to sinking 6-of-12 in the second half.
JBU will now face off with tournament host, fifth-seeded Oklahoma City in the championship match. Boasting a 1-1 mark all-time in the SAC title game, John Brown will look to overcome the Stars winning both contests in the regular season, including a game inside Abe Lemons Arena in which the Golden Eagles held an 18-point lead only to have City win the game on a layup with under a second remaining.
