OKLAHOMA CITY -- Nine ties and eight lead changes punctuated a dramatic second half, but a Josh Bowling last-second triple attempt wouldn't fall, and the No. 18 John Brown University men's basketball team fell in the Sooner Athletic tournament championship, 74-73, to host Oklahoma City on Saturday (March 2) afternoon inside Abe Lemons Arena.
The eight lead changes all occurred after the Golden Eagles (23-10) raced out to a 10-2 run to open the second half, allowing second-seeded John Brown take a game-high 11 point lead, 47-36.
Eerily similar to the matchup in the regular season that saw JBU's 17-point lead evaporate, tournament MVP Chris Williams scored 15 second-half points - including a timely triple with just over a minute left, followed by converting both attempts at the line to give City (21-10) a 72-70 lead.
After the free throws and the shot clock turned off, senior Jake Caudle drew a foul to put him at the line. After hitting the front end, the second attempt missed, but Bowling grabbed JBU's biggest offensive rebound of the contest and drew another foul, giving the Golden Eagles a chance to take the lead.
The nation's second-best free throw shooter hit both - marking the half's seventh lead change. With 12 seconds left, the Stars, out of the timeout, received a running layup from Trae Bryant to retake the lead by one with just four ticks left on the game clock.
After a JBU timeout, the Golden Eagles quickly made its way up the floor with Bowling running down the right side. After shedding his defender, the senior leaned into a running triple attempt from the right elbow as time expired, but the title-winning attempt came up just short off the front rim, leaving the Golden Eagles 1-2 all-time in SAC tournament title games.
"I tried to get a good look and got a good look," said Bowling after his 13-point performance. "Just didn't hit it."
Oklahoma City won all three matchups with John Brown on the year, and with the third, claims the SAC's second automatic berth to the NAIA National Championships, set for Kansas City, Mo. from March 20-26.
The Golden Eagles will await their fate, which will be decided on March 13 at 5 p.m., when the NAIA announces the tournament field.
"We made it all the way to the championship and had a chance late to do something special with it. We can't ask for a lot more than the opportunities we had in this one," head coach Jason Beschta said. "We had to remind the guys after this one that we know this hurts, but we're still checking off one more box: We're going to Kansas City."
JBU answered City's game-high nine-point lead with a strong run to finish the first half. Trailing 27-18, junior Desmond Kennedy's triple jump-started the rally that was followed by back-to-back Caudle layups. Off the second, Kennedy stole the inbound and laid it in, continuing the momentum shift. Then two possessions later, Kennedy absorbed a foul while hitting a triple and converted the four-point play, helping the Golden Eagles complete a half-ending 19-7 run.
Junior Quintin Bailey handed in a career performance and was nearly unstoppable in the paint. Hitting 8-of-10 from the floor, his career-high 18 points accounted for over half of JBU's points in the paint (32). Caudle hit 5-of-14 from the field to add a team-best 19 points while Bowling posted 13, going 6-of-6 from the stripe. Kennedy came off the bench to add 12 points.
Williams led the way for the Stars by scoring a game-high 22 points, overcoming a six-turnover game. Trae Bryant's game-winning layup helped him finish with 13 points and Elijah Christman posted 11 off the bench.
At the conclusion of the game, Desmond Kennedy and Quintin Bailey were named to the All-Tournament team, while Jake Caudle was selected for the Hustle Award.
