LANGSTON, Okla. -- Senior James Beckom scored a season-high 19 points, but the eighth-seeded Golden Eagles shot under 40 percent for the 12th time this season as top-seeded and No. 5 Langston (Okla.) ousted the John Brown University men's basketball team by a 80-53 score on Thursday night (Feb. 23) inside the C.F. Gayles Fieldhouse in the quarterfinal round of the Oklahoma Ford Dealers Sooner Athletic tournament.
Scoring 7-of-10 from the charity stripe, Beckom tallied 19 points and added eight of JBU's 22 total rebounds. Senior Payton Guiot hit four triples and finished with 14 points as the Golden Eagles (12-17) were unable to overcome a 40-22 rebounding disadvantage.
The Lions (27-2), boasting the number one seed in the tournament, jumped out a 9-0 lead at the 16:48 mark in the opening half and never looked back. Langston led as many as 19 points to lead 42-23 at halftime.
Following intermission, the Lions outscored JBU 38-30 to pick up their first conference postseason tournament victory since the 2017-18 season.
Cortez Mosley finished with 17 points, D'Monte Brown added 13 and Tristan Harper chipped in 12 on the night.
After going winless in the first nine matchups with the Golden Eagles since 2019, Langston has now won three in a row in the series.
The Lions will now advance to the Oklahoma Ford Dealers Sooner Athletic Conference semifinals and take on Southwestern A.G. (Texas) on Monday night (Feb. 27) at the Gaulke Activity Center on the campus of Mid-America Christian University. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
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