SILOAM SPRINGS -- Powered by five triples from junior Drew Miller, the Golden Eagles poured in 14 treys and erased an early hole in a comeback win over Texas Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 15), 78-69, inside Bill George Arena to clinch a spot in the Sooner Athletic tournament.
Miller scored a game-high 21 points, the sixth time scoring 20 in his John Brown career, and the Golden Eagles (14-11, 12-8 Sooner Athletic) improved to 7-2 this season when crossing into double-digit three-point territory.
John Brown is now 9-3 in Siloam Springs.
Sophomore Malachi Reeves contributed 17 points on 3-of-5 shooting behind the arc and passed out five assists. Senior Tyren Collins made 3-of-6 from long range and finished with 11 points, as did sophomore Josh Stewart.
JBU shot even better from behind the arc than inside it, netting 14-of-30 from beyond (47 percent). The hosts finished 24-of-55 from inside (44 percent) and converted 89 percent (16-of-18) of its chances at the foul line.
The Rams (11-15, 9-11), which had its modest two-game win streak snapped, struck quickly and took an early 7-0 lead while John Brown found its offensive footing. Then, JBU retaliated in a big way.
Using four triples during the run – including two from Collins – John Brown used an 18-2 run over a 6:07 span to take an 18-9 lead midway through the first half. TXWES would soon cut the margin to six, 22-16, but by halftime, freshman Trae Oetting and Miller, twice, connected on triples to balloon the hosts' lead to 13 entering the second half.
Aided by hitting 14-of-15 at the stripe in the second period alone, the JBU lead would hit 18 four different times. The Rams had one final push, however, using a 17-6 rally to crawl within seven, 67-60, but a dagger of a three-pointer from Reeves with 1:52 remaining returned the margin to 10, 70-60, before JBU hit all eight charity stripe attempts down the stretch.
The visitors shot just 38 percent (26-of-68), but produced a pair of 19-point scorers in Adetokunbo Bakare and Kristian Lafayette. Micale Mee came off the bench to score 13.
Miller paced the John Brown rebounding effort with eight, and sophomore Lukas Gabani controlled seven caroms and recorded five assists in the win.
Mathematically, the Golden Eagles are still within striking distance to clinch a home quarterfinal date in the SAC tournament. John Brown will return to action on Thursday night (Feb. 22) in Bethany, Okla. to take on Southwestern Christian at 8 p.m. The pivotal matchup will be carried on the SAC Sports Network live.
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