SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- For the second time in three days the Golden Eagles had to battle into overtime, and again the defense stepped up when it mattered most as the No. 10 John Brown University men's basketball team took a 92-86 victory in the extra session over Oklahoma City on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18) inside Bill George Arena.
In an absolute foul fest that culminated in 57 infractions whistled and over 70 free throws attempted, the Golden Eagles (16-2, 7-1 Sooner Athletic) rode junior Densier Carnes' career-high 32 points and 10 rebounds, capturing his ninth double-double of the season.
Sophomore Luke Harper's triple at the 6:00 mark gave John Brown a six-point lead, 72-66, but back-to-back City buckets pulled the visitors within one. After the teams traded the lead, a pair of buckets from senior Quintin Bailey kept JBU with the narrow lead until the Stars tied the game again at 77 with just over a minute left in the contest.
Only fitting for a contest that saw 13 ties and 17 lead changes, the squads traded free throws over the last minute until each team committed a turnover down the stretch. City had a chance to win the contest on the final possession, but Rashaun Coleman's mid-range jumper was short, forcing overtime.
The vaunted Golden Eagle defense made its final stand over the overtime period, holding Oklahoma City to an 0-of-5 mark from the field – forcing the visitors to earn its only points at the charity stripe. Harper's running layup followed by Carnes' final bucket of the contest pushed the JBU lead to seven, 86-79, and junior Rokas Grabliauskas took over the remainder of the period by hitting 4-of-6 chances from the line to ice the contest, continuing John Brown's win streak to four in the new year.
Both teams shot just over 45 percent in the contest, but the Stars struggled from behind the arc, hitting just 4-of-20 (20 percent) while John Brown rode Carnes' five triples to a 9-of-28 performance (32 percent).
The game was tight throughout as neither team held a lead larger than seven throughout the 45 minutes of play. The John Brown offense struggled out of the gate, facing an early 9-4 deficit. Carnes nearly single-handedly jump-started the Golden Eagle shooting effort as his pair of triples sent the hosts on a 12-4 run that would hold until the 8:14 mark where the Stars would regain the 20-19 edge.
Consecutive treys from junior Kiree Hutchings and freshman Nemanja Obradovic pushed the JBU lead to five, 27-22, but Carnes' three-pointer with 4:04 left in the half would be the final John Brown field goal as the Stars finished the half on a 15-10 run to force a tie at the intermission.
Armed with a 52-46 lead, the Stars took control of the second half quickly until three trips to the line from Carnes, Harper and Obradovic was followed by another Carnes triple that returned the lead back to the hosts, 57-52. Obradovic would later hit his second trey of the contest to hold a six-point lead, 60-54.
The lead ballooned to as many as seven, but Oklahoma City retaliated with another 8-3 run to pull within one, 72-71, with just under five to play. The teams would then trade buckets before trading trips to the charity stripe would eventually lead to overtime.
Carnes finished 11-of-18 from the field, while Harper battled through another tough shooting performance to contribute 15 points and 10 rebounds – his first collegiate double-double. Three other Golden Eagles finished in double-digit territory as Bailey (12), Grabliauskas (10) and Obradovic (10) added significant performances.
Behind the rebounding efforts of Carnes and Harper, John Brown feasted on the boards to the tune of 42-27 and used 14 offensive rebounds to produce 17 second-chance points. OCU was limited to just five second-chance opportunities through 45 minutes.
Coleman led the Stars' scoring efforts with 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting and added five helpers. Anthony Davis posted 17 points and five boards while Darrion Willies (11) and A.J. Cockrell (10) finished in double-digit scoring in the loss for Oklahoma City (10-7, 3-5).
Both teams had plenty of chances to work on its free throw shooting as City hit 34-of-42 from the line (81 percent). John Brown, meanwhile, converted 23-of-31 (74 percent).
Up Next »
The Golden Eagles will now take its winning streak on its western trip as JBU will face J.J. Culver and Wayland Baptist on Thursday (Jan. 23) inside the Hutcherson Center. Tip is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.
