SILOAM SPRINGS -- On the heels of 16 triples and a season-low five turnovers, the John Brown University men's basketball team completed its second-straight wire-to-wire win with an 87-67 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday (Jan. 1) afternoon inside Bill George Arena.
After a three-week hiatus, the Golden Eagles (9-5, 3-3 Sooner Athletic) improved to 7-1 at home and broke a three-game conference losing skid.
Senior Luke Harper led four players in double figures for John Brown with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while junior DJ Ellis contributed 16 points, a season high, alongside five rebounds and five assists. Junior Payton Guiot came off the bench and hit 5-of-11 attempts from behind the arc to score 15, while senior Ira Perrier flirted with his first double-double of the season, ending the afternoon with 10 points and nine rebounds.
For the third time in his last four outings, graduate student Densier Carnes collected double-digit rebounds, pacing all players with 14 caroms as John Brown enjoyed a 45-38 rebounding advantage.
Carnes and Ellis hit consecutive buckets to start the contest, and junior Nemanja Obradovic added a third before Harper's first triple of the contest built a 9-3 advantage for the hosts just 2:49 into the contest.
Sophomore Noah Taylor and graduate student Rokas Grabliauskas chipped in with triples late in the first half, ballooning the JBU lead to 14, 34-20.
The teams played evenly after that, allowing the hosts to take a 49-33 lead into the locker room.
OPSU shot 42 percent in the second half but a 9-of-16 effort from the Golden Eagles at the stripe in the second half helped protect the large lead. Perrier scored eight of his 10 points in the second half, hitting both attempts from the field and 4-of-5 from the line to accompany a pair of assists.
Rayquan Elliott led the Aggies (6-5, 3-3) with 19 points, while Justin Pile and Jalen Thomas each added 13 points apiece as the Panhandle State brief two-game win streak came to a close.
Because of COVID-19 protocols, the John Brown matchup with Wayland Baptist (Texas) that was scheduled for Monday (Jan. 3) evening will credit the Golden Eagles with a 2-0 forfeit victory. With no contest scheduled on Monday, JBU returns to action inside Bill George Arena on Thursday (Jan. 6) evening versus Southwestern Christian at 7:45 p.m. The conference matchup will be carried live by the SAC Sports Network.
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