PLAINVIEW, Texas -- After struggling through the first 20 minutes of play, junior Luke Harper and the Golden Eagle offense finally found its rhythm as John Brown out-scored host Wayland Baptist (Texas) 44-27 in the second half en route to a 66-55 win in the Sooner Athletic tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday (Feb. 24) evening inside the Hutcherson Center.
Harper hit 5-of-9 from the field and converted all eight attempts from the stripe in the second half – scoring 20 of his game-leading 26 in the second half. After hitting just 25 percent from the floor in the first stanza, John Brown (8-6) responded with a 41 percent clip (12-of-29) in the second half and finished the night 22-of-30 from the charity stripe.
"I am so proud of the team tonight," admitted head coach Jason Beschta. "To go on the road at one of the hardest places to play and fight back after an early deficit showed a lot of grit. At halftime we focused on owning mistakes and moving past them immediately. We started the half with a big shot and you could feel the energy from the guys on the floor to the guys on the bench. They were committed to doing this together."
Harper's triple to break open the second half jump-started a 19-3 John Brown run over the next 7:56 that saw the visitors turn a three-point deficit into a 10-point lead, 41-31, with just over 12 minutes left in the contest.
Wayland (7-5) struggled in key areas in the last 20 minutes, including a 24-15 rebounding deficit and the Pioneers committed double the JBU turnovers, 8-4, allowing JBU to win its fourth straight meeting in Plainview.
Senior Densier Carnes battled through a tough shooting night to contribute his third double-double of the season – 15 points and 13 rebounds, while freshman Noah Taylor came off the bench to provide a trio of timely triples.
The Golden Eagles will now wait for its opponent on Saturday (Feb. 27) in the semifinals to emerge from the Science & Arts – Southwestern Christian series. The semifinals are scheduled to take place at the two top seeds remaining from the quarterfinal round.
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