GOODWELL, Okla. -- Over the final three minutes of the game, the Golden Eagles pieced together a game-clinching 9-0 run as the John Brown University men's basketball team finished off a 75-70 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday (Feb. 5) afternoon inside Anchor D Arena.
Senior Luke Harper scored a team-leading 20 points and junior DJ Ellis hit 5-of-10 behind the arc to add 19 points, sending the Golden Eagles (16-9, 10-7 Sooner Athletic) to its third-straight win, and a season sweep of the Aggies (9-13, 6-11).
John Brown dealt with a 17-point second-half swing that saw the Golden Eagles' 10-point lead early in the period evaporate with an Aggies' 19-3 run. Despite shooting just 33 percent in the second half, JBU earned its points at the line, hitting 18-of-23 from the charity stripe in the second half alone.
After a triple gave OPSU a 70-66 lead with just 3:07 remaining, Harper's layup on the next possession began John Brown's comeback. In the final stretch, the visitors hit 7-of-10 from the line and kept the Aggies scoreless on its final five possessions.
"We really had to grind this one out today over a gritty opponent," admitted head coach Jason Beschta. "Panhandle State disrupts and causes turnovers with their pressure, but I thought our guys adjusted well in the second half and were aggressive against it, coming away with some open looks.
"They have some guys who can really create off the bounce and are difficult to stay in front of, and they made some big shots. But, we found a way to come up with enough big plays at both ends down the stretch. DJ and Luke scored so well for us, Rokas and Ira made plays for teammates and James was all over the place impacting the game at both ends. Today was a great team win."
Eleven ties and 10 lead changes punctuated a back-and-forth contest, but John Brown's 22-of-28 free-throw shooting and a slight margin in rebounding did just enough for the visitors to improve to 4-1 all-time in Goodwell.
The Aggies, led by Jalen Thomas' 26 points, shot nearly 50 percent on the game (25-of-51), but shot an abysmal 4-of-14 (29 percent) from long range. OPSU also missed eight free throws, more than the margin of the game, finishing 16-of-24.
Rayquan Elliot and Justin Pile each scored 12 points in Panhandle State's third loss in four games.
Junior James Beckom shot a perfect 5-of-5 on the afternoon, chipping in with 12 big points off the bench. Junior Payton Guiot added 11 points and a 5-of-5 outing at the charity stripe. Senior Ira Perrier secured eight rebounds.
Graduate student Rokas Grabliasukas scored seven points, and with his fast-break layup from Ellis early in the second half, became the 32nd Golden Eagle in program history to join the 1,000 point club.
John Brown will now stay out west a little longer as it takes on Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Monday evening (Feb. 7) inside the Hutcherson center. Tip is slated for 6:45 p.m.
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