McPherson, Kan. -- Sophomore Luke Harper couldn't seem to miss all evening and the Golden Eagles delivered head coach Jason Beschta his second-straight 20-win season as the No. 10 John Brown University men's basketball team worked to the free throw line for an 82-69 win over Central Christian (Kan.) on Tuesday night (Feb. 4) inside Alexander Arena.
Harper finished the contest 6-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-4 behind the arc to score 25, but more important, he led the John Brown (20-3, 11-2 Sooner Athletic) parade to the free throw line and made the most of it – finishing 11-of-11 from the stripe. The visitors combined to net 31-of-35 chances at the foul line and forced three Tiger foul-outs to overcome 17 miscues.
"Every win in this league is one to celebrate," Beschta admitted after securing John Brown's 20th win of the season. "Going on the road always makes things even tougher, and Central Christian plays even tougher at home. They were very physical with us and forced us to make adjustments to what we were doing on offense. I thought we made those adjustments well, especially in the second half, even though foul trouble plagued us the whole game. I'm very proud of the way guys stepped up as we dug even deeper into the bench.
"Tonight was a tough turn-around after playing two games late last week. We're going to come home and quickly prepare for Langston on Thursday. There's no rest for the weary in this league, but I think we're up for it."
Besides Harper's ninth 20-point outing of the season, senior Quintin Bailey was unstoppable in the first half, hitting 5-of-5 from the floor and added four rebounds. He would eventually finish a perfect 8-of-8 overall before fouling out. Junior Densier Carnes scored seven of his nine from the free throw line while junior Rokas Grabliauskas added seven.
John Brown got a big lift from its bench, which produced 25 points, as freshman James Beckom and freshmen Nemanja Obradovic and Nathan Stolz all contributed six points in the win.
A Carnes layup broke open a 25-25 deadlock for good with just under two minutes left in the first half, but the Tigers would whittle down a seven-point John Brown lead to just one possession numerous times in the second half.
Stolz, and later Harper, would hit triples to keep the JBU effort afloat past the midway point of the second half, but a quick 6-0 Central Christian run pulled the hosts within one, 60-59, with 5:22 left in the contest. Bailey added a bucket on the ensuing possession, and after a pair of Harper free throws, Obradovic basket in the post built the lead back to six, 66-60. After forcing another empty possession by the Tigers, Harper's triple with 2:58 left was followed by a pair of Carnes free throws that ballooned John Brown's lead to 10, 71-61.
JBU hit 9-of-11 at the line in the final three minutes and including an old-fashioned three-pointer from Harper as the lead hit a game-high 17, 81-64, with 24 seconds remaining.
Beyond converting 20-of-23 from the line in the second half, the John Brown offense shot an incredible 74 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes (14-of-19) and forced the Tigers into 18 fouls, nearly one per minute of play.
The Golden Eagles limited Central Christian to just 22 rebounds, the seventh time JBU has held an opponent to 25 rebounds or fewer in a contest, finishing just one shy of the season record of 21 against Philander Smith (Ark.) back on Dec. 10.
Isaiah Rivera scored a team-high 12 points for the Tigers, while Darrell Bryant added 10 off the bench. The John Brown defense held Central Christian's leading scorer T.J. Williams to just seven points. He had averaged over 13 per game entering the night.
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After nearly upsetting Southwestern A.G. (Texas) on the road last weekend, Langston (Okla.) will invade Bill George Arena on Thursday night (Feb. 6) for a 7:45 p.m. scheduled start. The game will be John Brown's fourth contest in eight days.
