SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- The nation only has one remaining unbeaten as the Golden Eagles improved to 12-0 at home behind a career-high 29 points from junior Rokas Grabliauskas, and used an early second-half run to create space as the No. 10 John Brown University men's basketball team handed No. 2 Mid-America Christian (Okla.) its first loss of the season in an 81-74 final on Thursday night (Jan. 30) inside Bill George Arena.
The win not only concludes MACU's modern era win streak at 20, the Golden Eagles (19-2, 10-1 Sooner Athletic) pull into a virtual tie with the Evangels (20-1, 11-1), back just half a game atop the Sooner Athletic standings.
What You Need to Know »
» Rokas Grabliauskas' career-high 29 points lead four players in double-digit scoring.
» After swapping triples early to open the second half, the Golden Eagles used eight points from Quintin Bailey to rampage on a 16-1 run.
» The loss ends Mid-America Christian's modern-era record 20-game win streak.
» The road to maintain a tie for first place with MACU won't be easy as John Brown will play four games over the next nine days. |
Grabliauskas earned his career-best performance behind 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and 5-of-8 behind the arc, while junior Densier Carnes added 14 points and sophomore Luke Harper scored 13. Senior Quintin Bailey tallied 11, including eight in a pivotal span to start the second half that generated the distance the Golden Eagles needed to record its second top-10 victory of the season and extend JBU's current win streak to seven.
Defensively, John Brown held the visiting Evangels to 19 points below its season average. Bailey earned a pair of blocks while freshman Nemanja Obradovic, who contributed an important seven points off the bench in relief of Bailey, added a third. Averaing 40 percent behind the arc, the Golden Eagles held MACU to 8-of-22 on the evening (36 percent).
The Golden Eagle offense was slow to start as JBU fell behind 7-2 not even two minutes into the contest, constituting MACU's largest lead of the game. A Grabliauskas triple and an acrobatic layup from freshman James Beckom began to open up the offense and a pair of Carnes free throws tied the contest at nine apiece.
Seven consecutive points from Grabliauskas handed the hosts a narrow 27-23 lead, but the lead would stick for the rest of the evening after seven lead changes through the first 11 minutes of the contest. En route to a perfect shooting night from the stripe, Grabliauskas converted a pair to extend the lead to five, 33-25, but a 4-0 Evangel run to end the half all coming at the free throw line whittled the margin to one at the intermission.
Led by Bailey, the John Brown offense kicked off the second half in unstoppable fashion while the defense threw the Evangels into a funk that it wouldn't kick. JBU hit all four field goal attempts to start the period, including three consecutive Bailey buckets in the post – but the strong play wouldn't end there. Bailey added another basket down low and the dagger came in the form of back-to-back triples from Grabliauskas and junior Kiree Hutchings that blew open what was once a one-point lead into a 52-36 deficit for the visitors. Finally, the 16-1 run ended when MACU netted its first field goal at the 12:27 mark after scoring an early bucket on its second possession of the half.
Over the opening span of 7:39 in the second half, the JBU defense held Mid-America Christian to 1-of-9 shooting and forced the Evangels into four turnovers.
A quick triple barrage brought the Evangels to within nine, 58-49, and even narrowed closer to seven just over a minute later. JBU and the visitors would each piece together small runs that saw the Golden Eagles build a double-digit lead only to have MACU bring the score back to within single digits three times down the stretch of the second half.
With time waning and MACU employing a full-court press, Bailey fed Hutchings on a fast break after besting the press for a layup to hold a 75-67 lead with just shy of a minute remaining. After trading successful trips to the charity stripe, the Evangels slid to within six, 77-71, but Harper hit his final four attempts at the line down the stretch and the visitors were held to just one field goal over the final 1:52 of the contest as JBU held on for the victory.
Uncharacteristically, the Evangels out-rebounded John Brown by a 33-28 margin, including using 15 offensive rebounds to generate 12 second-chance points. With both teams hovering around the 50 percent mark from the field, the contest came down to free-throw shooting as JBU finished 23-of-28, including a perfect 10-of-10 effort from Grabliauskas. Harper also finished 6-of-6 from the line. MACU hit just 14-of-23 at the line, costing the visitors dearly as the Evangels could never dig out of the John Brown run to open the second half.
D'Von Moore's four triples and 7-of-14 shooting effort paced the MACU offense to the tune of 23 points, while Dominick Ford added 13 points and six rebounds. Tony Dorsey scored 13, while the Golden Eagles held the Evangels' leading scorer, Ashford Golden – who entered the contest averaging over 17 a game, to just 10 on 4-of-12 shooting.
Up Next »
The Golden Eagles will now embark on a nine-day stretch that includes four games through next Saturday. John Brown will take on Science & Arts on Saturday (Feb. 1) at 3:45 p.m. inside the Drover Fieldhouse as JBU will look to tie MACU atop the Sooner Athletic Standings.
