PLAINVIEW, Texas -- The Golden Eagles rushed out to an 11-0 lead and held fourth-seeded No. 13 Southwestern A.G. (Texas) off the scoreboard for the first 5:21 of the contest, but the No. 9 John Brown University men's basketball team fell victim to offensive droughts and fell to the Lions, 66-51, in the Sooner Athletic tournament championship game on Saturday afternoon (March 7) inside the Hutcherson Center.
After a quick feeling-out process, senior Quintin Bailey got things going in the paint and over the next three possessions, the Golden Eagles (28-5) knocked down triples to take a commanding 11- 0 advantage. Junior Kiree Hutchings hit a trey before junior Densier Carnes connected on back-to-back attempts behind the arc, stunning the Lions after its 101-79 win over top-seeded and No. 1 Mid-America Christian (Okla.) in the semfinals.
The Lions responded, however, holding John Brown to just one field goal – a Hutchings' and-one triple – over the next 8:23 as SAGU roared back to take an 18-15 lead. Finally, sophomore Luke Harper tied the score at 18 apiece with a triple from the top of the arc, and freshman Nathan Stolz's trey from the right arc in front of the Lions bench kept the lead with JBU, 21-18.
Harpers' runner in the key maintained the two-point lead, 23-21, but the Golden Eagles would again fall victim of the drought. Unable to find the scoreboard for the remaining 6:18 of the half, SAGU ripped off a 14-0 run to take a 33-23 lead into the intermission.
The Golden Eagle offense, struggling through poor shooting and turnovers, faced a game-high 24-point deficit, 57-33, midway through the second period. Although using a short 7-0 run that was capped by a Rokas Grabliauskas triple to pull within 13, 58-45, that would be the closest the SAC tournament's second seed would come in erasing the SAGU momentum, all without Sooner Athletic Player of the Year Nykolas Mason.
"Although we are disappointed with the outcome today, I'm really proud of the guys and everything they've done to earn their way to today's championship game," head coach Jason Beschta admitted. "We ran into a SAGU team that did an amazing job this weekend playing some of the best basketball of the year without their best player. You have to give them credit for what they accomplished this weekend, but we have to look at these last couple of games and find some more effective ways to move each other the ball and score.
"Now we are excited for the selection show and learning who we play. We're excited about the opportunity to use this week and a half to not just recover, but to keep pushing and improving so that we can go to Kansas City playing our best basketball of the season."
Unable to find any rhythm in the first half shooting just 29 percent (8-of-28), JBU struggled through its second-worst shooting effort of the season. Committing an uncharacteristic 22 turnovers, the Lions turned the miscues into 24 points off miscues.
While SAGU cooled off significantly after its lopsided semifinal win over the nation's top team, the Lions still shot 43 percent (21-of-49) from the floor and hit 11-of-28 from long range. Joshua Kashila's 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting led all scorers. Cody Farmer came off the bench to provide 15 points on five triples, while Kenneton Williams delivered seven points and eight boards in the win.
Carnes and Bailey contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively, but the Golden Eagles were limited to just 31 points outside of the paint. Carnes' eight rebounds led JBU to a 38-30 advantage on the glass.
Southwestern A.G. captured its second SAC tournament title in three seasons, while the Golden Eagles were denied a title in the final game for the second consecutive season. SAGU is 2-0 all-time in championship games, and John Brown falls to 1-3 in four appearances since 2010.
After the game, Carnes was named to the 2020 SAC All-Tournament team while Hutchings was selected for the tournament's Hustle Award.
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John Brown, armed with a program record 28 wins entering tournament play, will now have to await an official bid to come down from Kansas City. The Golden Eagles will gather on Wednesday night (March 11) to watch the Selection Show, awaiting an at-large berth and to find out its Round of 32 opponent and game time. JBU is hoping for its ninth trip to Kansas City in program history.
