CHICKASHA, Okla. -- Despite trailing by 15 early in the second half, No. 2 seed Science & Arts (Okla.) battled its way back as Elvin Rodriguez picked up a critical three-point play with 4:30 left to give the Drovers the lead for good, eventually pulling out a hard-fought 88-83 Sooner Athletic tournament semifinal victory over the John Brown University men's basketball team on Saturday night inside the Drover Fieldhouse.
Senior guard Cameron Hines willed the Drovers to the victory behind his 30-point performance, knocking down 9-for-17 from the field and 9-for-9 from the charity stripe to go with a team-high seven rebounds.
John Brown came out hot out of the gate in the second half as Luke Harper hit threes on back-to-back possessions for six of his 31 points to give the Golden Eagles their largest lead at 58-44 with 15:40 left to play.
The Drovers went on a 17-2 run over the next 6:51 as Stephon Hall dished it to Boubacar Diakite for a slam dunk from the right side to briefly give USAO a 61-60 lead with 8:49 left, its first since the 2:53 mark in the first half.
Over the next 4:19, the two teams exchanged eight leads and six ties before Rodriguez's crucial score that would permanently put the Drovers in-front.
The drama spilled over in the final two minutes as JBU continued to hang around with a pair of Densier Carnes free throws pulling it to within one, 82-81 with 1:49 left. However, on the following possession, Hines drove down the right baseline and found Gerrard Makuntae open for a left corner three to push the Drovers edge back out to four.
With 27.5 seconds to go, Carnes drove to the middle of the paint and dished it to Rokas Grabliauskas for a right-handed lay-in to trim the USAO lead to two at 85-83, prompting a quick timeout from JBU to set up the defense.
Unable to force a Drovers turnover, John Brown was forced to foul the hot hand of Hines with 20 seconds left, as he buried two clutch free throws to push the Drovers advantage to 87-83.
On the ensuing JBU possession, Noah Taylor missed a three that would've cut it to one, but Carnes came down with a crucial offensive rebound to give the Golden Eagles another chance. With seven seconds left, the ball slipped out of the hands of Harper going up for a three from the top of the key as the Drovers tracked down the loose ball before sealing the 88-83 win from the foul line.
"I am so proud of our guys this year," admitted head coach Jason Beschta. "It is been such a joy to work with them, push them and learn from them. This is really a special team and I can't speak highly enough of them - of how hard they work, of how much joy they play with, and how tough they are, and how selfless they are. Teams like this are rare. I've never had such joy and fulfillment in the midst of losing some games as I have this year, with this group. We made a good run at an extremely talented USAO team. Of course we wanted to go further, but we're thankful for the opportunity we did have this year and are extremely excited to have this group back again next season.
"This year, playing in the midst of a pandemic and everything that goes along with it, stretched us all in so many ways; but, it also taught us some very important things like what we can truly control and how to be thankful for the people, things and moments that we do have. It's forced us to wrestle with tough questions like which things should capture our hearts and our minds and monopolize our time. I think within our team, we found some really good answers in our brothers, in learning what it means to become one, and in the hope we cling to in the one thing we know ultimately matters: Jesus."
With the victory, Science & Arts will be advancing to its first Sooner Athletic Conference championship game since 2017 and will be seeking a similar result after the Drovers defeated Oklahoma City 93-90 to win the tourney title.
FOLLOW THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Don't miss a minute of the latest action surrounding JBU Athletics by following the Golden Eagles on Twitter (@JBUathletics), Instagram (@JBUathletics) and Facebook (/JBUathletics).
