John Brown University used some red-hot shooting to cool off St. Gregory's on Saturday evening in Bill George Arena.
The Golden Eagles hit 10 of 15 3-pointers in the first half to grab a big lead and cruised to the 90-68 Sooner Athletic Conference victory.
St. Gregory's (10-8, 6-4) came into Saturday's game having won five of seven to climb into second place in the SAC, but the Cavaliers had no answer for hot-shooting John Brown.
The Golden Eagles put together a 19-0 first-half run to take control. D.J. Feitl keyed the run with three consecutive 3-pointers. The 6-foot-3 junior finished off the surge with a nice feed to Griffin Brady for a layup and 40-23 JBU lead with three minutes, 43 seconds left in the half.
Feitl poured in a team-high 21 points, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, while Max Hopfgartner added a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. The 6-9 senior was also 3 of 3 on 3-pointers. Brady was also in double figures with 12.
John Brown (13-9, 5-5) finished the night making a sizzling 55 percent (31 of 56) from the floor, including 15 of 23 (65 percent) from 3-point range.
JBU coach Jason Beschta also pointed to his team's 52-23 rebounding advantage in the game to go with 23 assists on 31 field goals.
"That is a really good team," Beschta said. "They've got three starters back from a team that made the final four last year. They've got an All-American at the point back. I think it shows our guys, hopefully, what we're capable of against anybody.
"When we're getting assisted baskets, we're trying to find each other instead of just trying to create and go all the way. We found each other for some great looks and just knocked them down tonight."
Beschta acknowledged his team must do a better job of taking care of the ball. The Golden Eagles turned the ball over 21 times.
"We've still got to value the basketball," Beschta said. "Imagine if we didn't turn the ball over 21 times tonight. But we did some other things really well to make up for it."
John Brown also honored the 2005 NAIA National Championship team at halftime. Beschta said his team was motivated to play well in front of the honorees.
"We got to spend time around them and hear their stories and how it happened for them," Beschta said. "It was better than anything I could do in the pregame."
St. Gregory's coach John Martin said John Brown was too much for his team to handle.
"John Brown shot the ball well, they were at home," Martin said. "It's a great day for John Brown, celebrating the 10-year reunion of a national championship. This group of John Brown players came out ready to play. We were hoping they'd be a little bit distracted by all the pomp and circumstance, but that wasn't the case. Our guys didn't match their intensity.
Jaron Veirra finished with a game-high 23 points for St. Gregory's, while Marty Wilkerson, who leads the SAC in scoring, was limited to 14 points on 6-of-18 shooting.
JBU plays host to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Thursday.
John Brown 90, St. Gregory's 68
St. Gregory's 31 37 -- 68
John Brown 51 39 -- 90
St. Gregory's (10-8, 6-4): Vierra 23, Wilkerson 14, Jones 8, Ritchie 6, Boddie 6, Lemley 5, Mazibuko 4, Walter 2.
JBU (13-9, 5-5): Feitl 21, Hopfggartner 18, Brady 12, Elksnis 9, Erickson 8, English 7, Ledford 6, Olayemi 5, Anderson 4.
Sports on 02/04/2015