KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The John Brown University men's basketball team suffered through its worst offensive outing of the season as the 2018-19 campaign came to a close in a 77-57 setback to Bethel (Tenn.) in the Round of 32 of the NAIA National Championships inside Municipal Auditorium on Wednesday (March 20) morning.
Senior Jake Caudle's triple gave the No. 15 Golden Eagles (23-11) an early 3-2 lead, but No. 18 Bethel would score the next two buckets and never relinquish the lead as JBU fell to 5-3 all-time in the Round of 32.
Senior Josh Bowling posted 13 points and freshman Luke Harper added 11, including a perfect 3-of-3 morning from behind the arc, but John Brown was limited to a 20-of-60 shooting mark (33 percent), the second-worst shooting effort of the season, while the Wildcats (25-8) held John Brown to its lowest point total of the season – 23 points below average.
Isaac Edmondson went off for 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and added six rebounds in Bethel's victory. Charles Cobb was the only other Wildcat to finish in double figures, scoring 13, but nine different players scored for BU in its first-ever win over the Golden Eagles.
JBU had won the only other previous matchup between the two programs – a 73-71 win in McKenzie, Tenn. on Jan. 29, 1977.
Bethel dominated the paint, 42-18, limiting the John Brown bigs to an 11-of-29 mark overall in the contest. Despite allowing the nation's best offensive rebounding team 12 boards in the frontcourt, BU only scored eight second-chance points.
Sophomore Densier Carnes' thunderous slam with eight minutes left in the first half kept the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles within one possession, 19-17, but Bethel responded by closing the half on a 15-7 run to take a 10-point lead into the intermission.
The BU lead fell to a half-low eight points, twice, but the John Brown offense was never engaged, and hit just 8-of-28 (29 percent) from three-point territory.
The Wildcats started out hot and finished the contest 45 percent from the field (29-of-64), and out-rebounded the Golden Eagles, 47-34 on the morning and forced JBU into 18 turnovers.
The collegiate careers of Caudle, Bowling and Benjamin Smith came to a close as the trio of seniors finished with an overall record of 67-56 (.545) since 2015.
JBU finished the regular season in second place (15-7) in the Sooner Athletic standings after an eighth-place prediction, and fell in the SAC tournament title game before making its eighth-ever appearance in Kansas City. It was John Brown's first 20-win season since the 2013-14 campaign.
