Golden Eagles 'gut out' a win

Nathan Marquardt/JBU Sports Information John Brown University junior forward Griffin Brady goes up for what would be the game-winning points in the Golden Eagles’ 70-69 win Thursday against Southwestern Christian at Bill George Arena.
Nathan Marquardt/JBU Sports Information John Brown University junior forward Griffin Brady goes up for what would be the game-winning points in the Golden Eagles’ 70-69 win Thursday against Southwestern Christian at Bill George Arena.

John Brown learned Thursday that conference records have no bearing on how tough an opponent is in the Sooner Athletic Conference.

The Golden Eagles survived a game-winning shot attempt by Southwestern Christian in the final seconds, but it wasn't until the final 0.3 seconds ran off that JBU was able to celebrate a 70-69 win in its first game at Bill George Arena in more than a month.

Griffin Brady's drive and spin move for a basket gave JBU its winning margin with 19 seconds left in the ballgame.

JBU's Samson Olayemi then blocked Tyler Turner's game-winning shot on the other end, but the ball went out of bounds with 0.3 seconds left and possession to Southwestern Christian.

After both teams called timeouts, Southwestern Christian inbounded the ball to Turner but his 3-point attempt, which missed, was waved off by the officials for not having been shot in time as JBU celebrated the victory against the conference's last place team.

First-year John Brown head coach Jason Beschta said the Golden Eagles (12-7, 4-3) gutted out the win.

"We did and I think that's what conference play tends to be all about, especially in the SAC," Beschta said. "Even a team that record-wise is at the bottom, on paper you might think you should beat, it doesn't go like that. Anybody is capable. I think you've seen that. I think that's why nobody is undefeated right now. So we had to gut it out."

The Golden Eagles fell behind 37-29 at halftime after Southwestern Christian (5-10, 1-6) hit 14 of 30 shots from the field in the first half, including 17 points from Turner.

JBU got stops on its first several possessions of the second half and clawed back into the game 45-43 after a basket from D.J. Feitl and 3-pointers from Feitl, Max Hopfgartner, Zach English and Julian Erickson.

But Southwestern Christian upped its lead back up to seven points and led 59-52 with 7:14 left after Austin Turner, Tyler Turner's brother, hit a pair of free throws.

Hopfgartner was fouled and split a pair of free throws and then hit a 3-pointer on JBU's next possession to make it 59-56. Ronalds Elksnis scored to bring JBU back within 59-58, and English tied the game 59-59 with a free throw with 5:39 left.

With the score still tied with 4:13 remaining, English was fouled underneath the basket, starting a sequence that saw two Southwestern Christian players get whistled for technical fouls. That led to English shooting six straight free throws, of which he hit four, and JBU pulled ahead 63-59.

"We fouled on the layup and had the little dust-up situation there," said Southwestern Christian coach Quinn Wooldridge. "When you come into games knowing we're undermanned, every offensive and defensive possession is so crucial that we can't have mental letdowns like that. We need to keep in mind what we're here to do and that's to try and win a game rather than to try and win an argument."

Leading 65-63, JBU gave the technicals right back as Feitl was hit with a technical foul, allowing Southwestern Christian to tie the game with 1:50 left.

"We definitely have to keep our cool in those situations," Beschta said. "It wasn't something big that we did to get our technical, but it didn't have to be at that point. We've got to be able to learn the feel of that game and what the refs are going to call. We've got to be really wise in those situations because those free throws were big."

Tied at 66, Brady gave the Golden Eagles a 68-66 lead when he scored on a lob from Olayemi, but Tyler Turner answered on the other end with a 3-pointer to give Southwestern Christian a 69-68 lead with 29.6 seconds left.

Catching the ball near the JBU bench, Brady drove to the paint and spun in the reverse direction and scored to give JBU the winning points.

Feitl finished with 20 points to lead JBU, while English scored 13 and Brady and Hopfgartner each added nine points.

Tyler Turner led Southwestern Christian with 25 points, while Austin Turner had 17 points.

JBU played Saturday at Wayland Baptist. Results were not available at presstime. The Golden Eagles will return to action at home on Thursday against Oklahoma City.

John Brown 70, SW Christian 69

Southwestern Christian 37 32 -- 69

John Brown 29 41 -- 70

Southwestern Christian (5-10, 1-6): T. Turner 25, A. Turner 17, Brown 7, Matejcik 7, Dirlbeck 7, Noel 4, Kuckailis 2.

John Brown (12-7, 4-3): Feitl 20, English 13, Brady 9, Hopfgartner 9, Erickson 6, Elksnis 6, Anderson 3, Ledford 2, Olayemi 2.

Sports on 01/25/2015