JBU men lose fifth straight

WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- Although the John Brown men's basketball team forced 14 turnovers and only committed 11, the Golden Eagles were hampered by a 35.2 percent shooting effort in a 79-61 loss at Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Saturday afternoon inside the Shaffer Center.

The loss was JBU's fifth straight.

The game started off well for John Brown (11-15, 4-10 SAC), as the Golden Eagles took an early lead, 7-0, on their first three possessions. The tide quickly turned, however, as SAGU rattled off an 11-2 run to take a two-point lead.

"We started off well tonight sticking to our game plan and getting each other great looks on the offensive end and hitting them," said head coach Jason Beschta. "Unfortunately, they shot the ball really well early and took advantage of several unforced turnovers, which led to some easy transition buckets. After that, we didn't maintain our focus on both ends on what we wanted to do out there."

After back-to-back triples from junior Zach English and senior Luke Moyer pulled JBU within three, 23-20, with 9:29 remaining, the Golden Eagles went the next 5:18 without a bucket, allowing the Lions to romp on a 9-0 run and take a commanding 10-point lead, 32-22.

"We can't allow our struggles on the offensive end to affect our passion, energy and focus on the opposite end, but at the same time, we just flat-out need to shoot the ball better outside and finish better around the rim," Beschta said. "The opposing team's defense certainly has something to do with this, but the bigger issues we need to improve upon are our decision making with the ball, movement off the ball and our shot selection."

John Brown has still yet to figure out how to take down the Lions (17-9, 8-6 SAC), who own a perfect 6-0 record against the Golden Eagles since entering the Sooner Athletic Conference in 2013-14.

JBU hit just 7-of-35 chances behind the arc (20 percent) and allowed the hosts to shoot 28-of-58 (48.3 percent) from the field. The visitors also held a 40-37 rebounding advantage, but 18 Golden Eagle offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points weren't enough to overcome the final deficit.

"This team is capable of a lot more than we are showing," Beschta said. "Hopefully we can put it all together down the stretch and get to playing our best basketball."

The lead would grow to 14 at the intermission, 43-29, until SAGU out-scored the visitors 36-32 in a narrow second half.

Senior Griffin Brady led the JBU scoring effort with 13 points, seven boards and five assists while junior Nate Anderson contributed 10 points and seven boards in the loss. Freshman Marquis Waller stepped into the starting role again and notched nine points and five offensive rebounds in the loss.

Emmanuel Adoyi led all scorers for SAGU with 15 points and grabbed eight caroms. Rishaad Alexander added 12 points and four assists while Tyler Pate came off the bench to add 13. Twelve different players scored for the Lions in the win.

The Golden Eagles will now head home to finish off the regular season with three of four at Bill George Arena. JBU returns to action on Thursday when it welcomes Mid-America Christian (Okla.) for an 8 p.m. tip.