SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Behind a pair of 17-point performances from sophomore Trae Oetting and junior Elijah Lawrence, the John Brown University men's basketball team earned a gritty 82-74 victory over North Texas at Dallas in Sooner Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 11) inside Bill George Arena.
The Golden Eagles (10-6, 8-4 SAC) were paced by Oetting's 8-of-8 effort from the charity stripe, while Lawrence came off the bench to provide a spark by shooting 6-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Freshman Jack Ullom chipped in 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 performance from the field while senior Drew Miller added 12 points and a team-leading seven boards in the win. The Golden Eagles also dominated bench scoring, tallying 36 points compared to the UNTD's 23.
The game began with UNTD taking a slight advantage, leading 20-14 midway through the first half. However, sparked by back-to-back buckets from junior Lukas Gabani, JBU responded with a 9-2 run, also highlighted by four points from Oetting to seize a 23-22 lead. The hosts shot 4-of-6 down the stretch and Miller hit a buzzer-beating triple to hand John Brown a slim 39-35 advantage into halftime.
In the second half, UNTD scored 16 of the first 24 points of the half as the Blue and Gold worked through creating points in four of its first nine possessions. Then, facing a 51-47 deficit, JBU pieced together a 19-7 run over the next eight minutes, featuring a pair of Lawrence triples, to retake a 66-58 advantage. Over the next 4:34, the visitors tied the game at 72 with a 14-6 retaliatory response but the Golden Eagles rode a Lawrence mid-range jumper to break the tie and went on to shoot 8-of-8 down the stretch at the line. The Trailblazers managed just one field goal over the final two minutes of play as the JBU defense stifled a UNTD offense that generated 53 points in the paint.
Defensively, JBU forced 15 turnovers and capitalized with 13 points off miscues, and held UNTD to just 20 percent shooting from beyond the arc (3-of-15). On the boards, JBU edged UNTD 35-32, while finishing the game shooting nearly 50 percent (26-of-53) from the floor.
Bench contributions also proved critical for JBU, with reserves accounting for 36 of the team's 82 points (44 percent), paced by Lawrence and freshman Jack Ullom.
Greg Crawford and Daniel Sohn paced the Lions with 19 each, while Demaryon Thornton added 11. Jayden Johnson-Blair contributed six rebounds and five assists in the loss.
The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18) when they travel to Pt. Lookout, Mo. to clash with College of the Ozarks (Mo.) in the beginning of the second round of round robin conference play. Tipoff inside Keeter Gymnasium is slated for 3:45 p.m., with live coverage available on the SAC Sports Network.
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