PLAINVIEW, Texas -- Hitting 9 of its first 14 shots to open the contest, No. 22 Wayland Baptist opened the evening with a 24-5 advantage, sending the John Brown University men's basketball team to a 78-54 setback on Thursday night (Jan. 5) inside the Hutcherson Center.
The Golden Eagles (3-11, 1-7 Sooner Athletic) had a hard time convincing shots to fall through the first 6:40 of the matchup, hitting just 2-of-9 from the floor in the early goings. Senior James Beckom hit a layup to end the run, and junior Noah Taylor and senior DJ Ellis hit triples to reinvigorate the JBU offense, which played the Pioneers (10-4, 5-3) to a 54-49 contest the rest of the way.
"Wayland had a great start to the game tonight, and we found ourselves in a hole early that we were just never able to overcome," admitted head coach Jason Beschta. "They guarded us really well and we just didn't have an answer tonight for the big man inside.
"I thought we really picked things up in the second half and showed a lot more fight, which was important for us to see – but we need to have that for a full 40 minutes. While there were many things to be encouraged by, we just did not score the ball well tonight."
Ellis scored a team-leading 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor, four of which came from behind the arc. Beckom came off the bench to provide the only other double-digit scoring effort, netting 11 on an efficient 3-of-5 mark from the floor and a 5-of-6 evening from the free throw line. The Golden Eagles improved to nearly 50 percent from the field in the second half (11-of-23) but was unable to overcome a 30 percent mark (8-of-27) in the first stanza.
Wayland's D'Michael Bellfield scored a game-high 31 points on an impressive 13-of-18 night from the floor, and added eight boards and five steals. Josh Servantez hit four triples and scored 16 points, and Parrish Hewitt produced 12 points and five rebounds in the win.
The Golden Eagles return to action in a bounce-back opportunity on Saturday (Jan. 7) afternoon when it continues a three-game road trip versus Oklahoma Panhandle State. Game time is slated for 3:45 p.m. inside the Anchor D Arena.
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